Order of the Black Mask
by Shadow the Darkness Incarnate
Summary: Side ark style bleach Fan-fic. An army of black masked hollows,and a mysterious order that controls them threaten the seireitei. Several OC's used.
1. Dark Skies

**Chapter 1: Dark Skies**

The Captain's meeting was nearing the end. Captain Hitsugaya was only half paying attention since Captain-Commander was currently briefing Captains Ukitake and Kurotsuchi on the formation of an investigational squad and it was quite boring. They were supposed to investigate the appearance of hollows with black mask that seemed to seek out and devour soul reapers only as opposed to all souls. Apparently Ichigo Kurosaki had encountered several already and while he had dispatched them easily they were giving weaker soul reapers trouble. Any other details were beyond Toshiro's notice for the moment. As Toshiro wondered what might turn a hollow's mask black it happened.

Suddenly reiatsu had appeared that had not been present a moment before. It seemed to be coming from the center of the room where no one was. Immediately Yamamoto stopped talking and every captain turned their eyes toward the empty center of the room save Captain Kenpachi who it seemed had not yet noticed. The reiatsu was fading in and out but it was definitely getting stronger. The reiatsu was also strange feeling. It was like if a normal person's reiatsu was a single color this reiatsu kept changing what tint it was constantly, unevenly, and, as far as Toshiro could figure, completely at random. Then in the center of the room a black sphere appeared. At this point Kenpachi finally noticed what was going on. The sphere was small but it didn't stay that way. It began to grow until it was at least 12 feet wide forcing most of the captains to jump backwards to avoid touching it. It then faded into nothingness revealing 2 people.

The first was a thin guy with dark skin. He was probably around 5'10". He had a small straggly goatee and small mustache. His hair was curly but not very long. All of his hair was jet black. He wore shihakusho like any normal shinigami but his seemed worn and old. He also looked tired.

The second was a girl who was somewhere around 5'7". She had light skin and brown hair that reached a little beyond her shoulders. She wore a shihakusho in a similar state to the guy's. But her most prominent feature were her several injuries. She had clearly just been in a vicious battle and she almost immediately collapsed to the floor.

In the time it took most of the captains to take this all in Captain Unohana was already treating the girl. The boy stood looking around the room apparently taking it all in and looking like he had been caught horribly off guard by his own sudden appearance. Soifon spoke first "Who are you and how did you come to be here?" It was said with an air of demand.

The boy responded "My name is Coal and I am here to warn you that you must immediately begin diplomacy with an organization known as The Order of the Black Mask in order to avoid a war. "

Soifon responded after a short pause "What is The Order of the Black Mask?"

Coal answered "A group mostly made up of former soul society members. They have been hiding their existence for over 100 years since they would be considered traitors."

"Why did they leave Soul Society?" This time it was Toshiro who spoke.

"The reasons vary. Many left because they were in some way unusual. Many of them were deemed dangerous for one reason or another."

"So it is a band of criminals?" Soifon had beaten Toshiro to the question.

"In Soul Societies eyes many of them are in some way unfit to be soul reapers."

"Perhaps an example would help." suggested Shunsui.

"One of the members destroys and absorbs souls when he kills them. It disrupts the natural cycle of souls moving between the human world and Soul Society, if his power had been discovered he would have been killed for sure."

"Well I would think so. He would be destroying the balance Soul Society seeks to maintain." Soifon said bluntly.

"Yes but if he tried to leave he would be imprisoned because he already had shinigami powers. He had no options due to his abnormality except leave."

"Even so, we can't negotiate with them. They are still traitors and possibly dangerous from the sounds of it." Soifon stated this with an air of finality and then added, "Where can we find them?"

"You intend to bring them in or exterminate them I suppose."

"Of course, but I suppose you have a problem with that."

"Yes as a matter of fact I do. I believe we should attempt a diplomatic solution because the other option is war. This war won't be easy, they are a powerful group. Casualties are sure to be high. I think you should all reconsider."

"I think that's enough. Are you going to cooperate with us?"

"In that case, no." Coal said as his hand casually drifted to the hilt of sword.

"Then you are under arrest." Said Soifon. Her hand was already on the hilt of her sword.

Toshiro stepped out in between Soifon and Coal." Let me fight him. I want to see just what it is that makes his reiatsu so odd." Toshiro had indeed been wondering about the disorderly state of Coal's reiatsu which was clearly the same reiatsu as the sphere he had so suddenly appeared from. Furthermore he had noticed that the girl's reiatsu seemed similarly chaotic. Though this was confounding it was not the main reason he wanted to fight him. Soifon might very well kill him immediately and Toshiro wished to inquire more about this Order of the Black Mask. When he heard no objections from Soifon he calmly drew his blade as Coal did the same. Coals sword was maybe an inch or 2 longer than Toshiro's own blade.

"I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of Squad 10."

"I am Coal formerly ranked 8th in The Order of the Black Mask."

The battle began. The first collision came with a crash. They had struck head on. They twisted and parted Coal came again but just as he came in close on Toshiro's left pull back never quite getting into attack range as Toshiro blocked needlessly. Toshiro pursued as Coal reversed direction to come at Toshiro again. Coal struck at Toshiro while keeping a healthy distance between them. Toshiro began to slash at him but immediately realized his folly pulling is sword back to defend from the counter attack Coal had launched by shifting himself around Toshiro's blade to the inside coming left shoulder first, despite being right handed, ready to stab with his blade. Toshiro deflected the hit and used his Shunpo(flash step) to get back and analyze the situation.

Toshiro had already found the first difficulty with fighting Coal. Coal was definitely faster than him. On the other hand despite his speed Toshiro had not yet been injured or even come especially close to being injured. It took a moment of thought to realize why but Toshiro could only come up with one explanation. "Your style is defensive, isn't it?" Toshiro was more stating than asking.

"Indeed, I would expect no less from a captain." Coal responded with a smile.

While this was expected there was still one thing Toshiro didn't get. Coal favored facing his left side towards Toshiro. This didn't make sense regardless of how you fought but he clearly did this regularly. He didn't have time to contemplate this further because Coal came at him again. It was an odd style even for a defensive stance to tell the truth. Coal kept a distance a little shorter than his sword between him and Toshiro a lot of the time maneuvering around Toshiro's blade to make attacks. It seemed like he was constantly a threat even though he must almost never land a hit. He also used his exceptionally fast shunpo to pursue Hitsugaya whenever he tried to put any distance between them.

Toshiro found himself locked in a close struggle with Coal for what had to be the 11th or so time when Coal at last said under his breath "I think it is time we got serious." Toshiro felt it before he saw it. Coal had Toshiro's sword pinned awkwardly close to his left shoulder and he gathered spirit energy into his fingers. With the call of" Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (white lightning)" The white kido was fired almost point blank at Toshiro's chest. Toshiro was prepared having sensed it before hand and rolled sideways around Coal's blade to avoid it. As Toshiro came around the blade however he was met with a sight he did not expect: a glowing ball of red kido in Coal's left hand. "Way of Destruction 31 Shakkaho (Red Flame Cannon)." Toshiro pulled back quickly but had only one option to escape the attack. _Soten ni zase __**Hyorinmaru **_(_sit upon the frozen heavens_ _**Ice Ring**_). As the kido hit his sword steam exploded from the impact sending Toshiro sliding backwards almost into Kenpachi.

Toshiro was uninjured but still a little surprised. Coal had used 2 kidos with the same hand in extremely quick succession. This meant he must have been forming them at the same time. While this would not be beyond Toshiro's own skill level, it still surprised him that Coal was capable of it. For the first time Toshiro felt that his opponent might actually be quite dangerous if underestimated. Toshiro now also saw the last twist in his opponent's style: Coal used kido for offence when fighting with his zanpakto sealed. This meant that at the beginning of the fight Coal hadn't really been offensive at all but was merely sizing Toshiro up. Toshiro knew it was time to get serious.

Toshiro let fly an ice dragon from his sword and Coal used shunpo to dodge around it clearly ready to force Toshiro once more into short range combat. Toshiro however simply used another one of his ice dragons to force Coal away from him. Toshiro now sent his 3 dragons after Coal forcing him to dodge one, while blocking one with his sword, and destroying the 3rd with another shot of shakkaho. However the first dragon Toshiro had unleased doubled back at him from behind. It was coming at Coal's left side but Coal seemed unworried. He called out with a bit of excitement in his voice "_Vallo obviam totus __** Atrum Custos**_". Despite that Toshiro had never heard this tongue before he could only conclude based on what happened next that this was the release of his sword.

A huge black shield had appeared on his left arm defending him easily from the dragon. His shield's shape was like you had put 3 circles together so they overlapped any holes and then stretched the bottom one's length to twice its width. Then you put a spike pointing outward from each circle nearly as about half as long as the circle they protruded from making the bottom spike quite large. Then laid 3 identical diamond shaped sapphires into it so that they each lay in the center of a circle and pointed at the center of the shield. Finally make this about 2 inches thick and slightly bowed outwards. The shield in total stood around 4'10" tall and was about 2'7" across at its widest point.

As Coal turned to face Toshiro, things finally made sense. He was use to letting his left arm lead because he was clearly used to having this massive shield protecting him on that side. He favored stabs because it made good sense for striking around his shield. Toshiro also noticed the lack of ice clinging to his shield despite having taken a direct hit from Hyorinmaru. It was now clear how formidable his defenses really were.

Toshiro attacked again. He let 2 dragons fly to the left as he faded right. Coal charged directly at Toshiro in response seemingly ignoring the 2 dragons. Coal rammed Toshiro with his shield and then attempted to stab Toshiro with his blade. Toshiro simply stepped back and blocked having maintained his balance despite the considerable force behind Coal's shield. Coal then used shunpo to Toshiro's left to avoid the ice dragons. Coal came again bringing his sword swinging around his shield forcing Toshiro to hold his Katana horizontal to both block the sword and avoid being rammed by the shield. Toshiro could feel Coal forming kido so he rolled left to keep Coal's shield between him and Coal's left hand. "Way of destruction 33 Sokatui (Blue fire, Crash Down)" Toshiro realized his mistake to late. The kido issued from the center of the shield instead of his hand cleanly hitting the left side of Toshiro's body. Thanks to Hyorinmaru being partially in the way and Toshiro's captain level reiatsu he wasn't badly injured but he was lightly burned on his left side.

As Toshiro stood facing Coal considering what he had seen he asked casually "Are you capable of bankai?" Toshiro feared the answer to this question greatly.

"Yes I am but you won't be witnessing it today." Coal responded calmly.

"Why not?" Toshiro inquired.

"Because I used its ultimate ability to bring me here, I won't be able to use my bankai for 24 hours." Coal responded bluntly.

"I'm sorry then."

"For what?"

"The fact that I am about to release my own bankai against you. You must understand, I have no more time for games. But before I do I must ask what is going on with your reiatsu? I have never felt anything quite like it."

"I was wondering if you would ask. All members of The Order of the Black Mask have reiatsu like mine."

"Why?"

"Due to the Oath of Chaos."

"Which is?"

"A powerful mark we all carry. Allow me to show you its power." Coal said this with a smile. Toshiro suddenly realized it was time to bankai.

"Way of Chaos 1 Solvo!"

"Bankai!"


	2. The Black Mask

**Chapter 2: The Black Mask**

Toshiro stood with his great wings of ice unfurled and his sword ready for whatever twist his opponent might be planning. The other captains had stood watching the battle quietly, only occasionally moving to keep out of the way. Soifon had to admit that she was glad she wasn't fighting so she could put all her attention into observing this fight. Shunsui was impressed by Coal's skill in battle even against an opponent as powerful as Toshiro. Kenpachi was starting to wish he had stepped forward since this opponent turned out to be so interesting.

Where the Order got its name was now apparent. All eyes now rested on Coal who wore a great black helm. The face of the black mask was plain with no detail like something a ninja would wear. The top of his head was crowned with crooked decorative spikes and down the back of his head were smaller spines. His mask covered all the way down to where his neck met his torso. The entire mask was pure black and it seemed the part around his neck was flexible. The chaotic state of Coal's aura seemed to have been augmented by this action as well.

"This is my bankai: _Daiguren __**Hyorinmaru**_ (Great Crimson Lotus **Ice Ring**). The time has come Coal. Let's see what you can do." Toshiro said calmly. Toshiro let loose a burst of ice from his sword. Coal was gone long before it reached where he had been standing. He came from above with the cry" Way of chaos 15 Ignis spherae." From The center of his shield came a fireball half as big as Coal himself or at least Toshiro thought it was a fireball. It was made of flame that was blue on the outside edge but instead of lightening in to white at the center it instead darkened to black. Toshiro decided to dodge this eerie flame not knowing what effect it might have. As he jumped back he turned to face Coal who was now coming at him from the back right. He felt the second kido already formed in Coal's hand. "Way of chaos 22 Chaos Hasta." A thinner pointed fireball with a spiraling tail issued from his shield this time. This fire ball moved much faster than the first one forcing Toshiro to use his shunpo to avoid it. Coal kept pace with Toshiros shunpo but was met with Toshiro's blade forcing him to block with his shield. This collision cut slightly into Coal's shield. Toshiro smiled knowing Coal's shield was tough but not invincible. Toshiro now brought his right wing down at Coal forcing him to switch his sword to holding back Toshiro's blade while using his shield to block the new threat. As skilled as this was it wasn't enough Toshiro had focused kido with his free hand. "Way of destruction 63 Raikoho (Thunder roar cannon) Coal pushed away only managing to partially block the hit with his shield. Toshiro pursued as Coal regained balance. Coal faded right as he came at Toshiro who almost lazily met Coal's shield with his left wing. This was just what Coal was after. "Way of chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas." A cyclone like blast of the eerie fire exploded from his shield sending Toshiro reeling backwards.

As Toshiro regained his balance he realized how dangerous that attack really was. What was left of his wing was still burning. This fire seemed capable of eating away at anything though it seemed to dwindle by consuming things rather than grow. This last part seemed to be the only good news. It seemed the fire also disrupted the structure of nearby objects. This meant even if he grew back his wing it would have a weak point near where the fire had burned. This portion of his wing would be easily destroyed taking his reformed wing with it.

Toshiro didn't really know what to make of this. Coal's attacks seemed to be kido but he had never encountered anything like this. "I have a quick question for you, Coal."

"Wondering how I obtained this mask?"

"Yes. I assume you gain it by some ritual when you enter this Order of the Black Mask right?"

"Indeed. And before you inquire about its abilities allow me to explain. The mask allows you to use chaos kido as a weapon. It also causes the oddly chaotic nature of my reiatsu. Now allow me a quick question. Are you prepared to fight 7 people stronger than me as well as an army of rabid black masked hollows? And even if you are, do you not realize how many casualties there will be in the process?"

"I see your point but that is for Captain-Commander Yamamoto to decide. My only duty at this moment is to defeat you."

"I don't doubt you will at this rate but if I am to die I'm going to take a good run at taking you with me." It wasn't until that moment that Toshiro realized how exhausted his opponent was becoming. He really was having problems matching power with Toshiro's bankai.

"You are welcome to try." Toshiro answered readying himself for the worst.

Coal calmed himself a prepared his mind for the rush. He had decided how he would kill Hitsugaya Toshiro. Coal slid back his shield so it hung on his upper arm as he formed the kido in his left hand. As he put the ball of chaos to his blade he yelled "way of chaos 39 Acrifatum." He swept his hand along his blade and as he did the blade became ablaze with the chaos fire. He readied his shield once more. It was time.

Coal came at Toshiro flying high in the air. Toshiro raised his sword to block but was met with Coal's shield. Coal used his shield to push off towards Toshiro's back his sword ready for what he knew must come. Toshiro's tail whipped upwards to meet him and with a single swing Coal ripped clean through Toshiro's tail. Coal had removed another of Toshiro's weapons. Toshiro only had his sword and right wing remaining for basic combat. Coal shifted around Toshiro's left using shunpo as Toshiro turned to face him. Coal would strike now. He charged in but Toshiro stood prepared. Toshiro brought his right wing crashing down at Coal while raising his sword high. Coal would be forced to block the wing with his shield and the sword with his own preventing him from completing his attack. Toshiro knew there was no way he could maintain such a strong kido for long in his current condition. Coal blocked Toshiro's wing with his shield but then the twist came. Coal slid his shield down his arm and caught Toshiro's sword hand while his shield continued to defend against the wing leaving his right hand free. Coal had him now when the sword pierced Toshiro's heart the fight would be over. The chaos fire would eat away his heart killing Toshiro. As Coal stabbed to end the match in a final desperate effort Toshiro formed a sheet of ice across his body. Coal's attack went clean through the ice, pierced Toshiro's skin, through his left lung and out the other side. "Way of destruction 4 Byakurai (white lightning). Toshiro's kido ripped across Coal's right side forcing him back ripping his sword out of Toshiro's body along the way.

They now stood facing each other. Both stood shocked at the other. Toshiro couldn't believe that Coal had actually chosen to catch Hyorinmaru with his bare hand which was now incased in ice and blackened. Coal spoke shattering the ice around his arm as he did "Well I must say that you didn't disappoint me Captain Hitsugaya. I mean forming a sheet of ice that was denser towards the center so that when I cut it my sword would naturally drift towards the edge, is impressive but coming up with that in such a short time is nothing short of remarkable."

Shunsui had to admit it had been an impressive battle. Coal had even without bankai still reduced Toshiro to only 6 of his original 12 petals. On the other hand this had cost him all his strength it seemed. Coal's blade no longer burned with chaos and even as he thought this he saw Coal's mask fade away.

"Thank you and I must admit you have made your point." Toshiro then turned to the Captain-Commander" I think we should consider negotiations with The Order of the Black Mask."

Soifon objected immediately" They are criminals and potentially dangerous. We cannot show mercy towards them. I say we mobilize the Onmitsukido (Stealth force) and locate them as soon as possible."

"Do you really think you'll be able to find them like that?" Yoruichi said stepping from the shadows" If they have been hiding from the Seireitei for this long and I haven't even heard of them they are probably quite skilled at it."

Everyone in the room except Soifon and Yamamoto seemed quite surprised to see Yoruichi suddenly among them. Coal wondered if Soifon and the Captain-Commander were just the only ones who saw her enter or if they simply were not surprised by her stealth. The silence of the moment was broken by Toshiro dismissing his bankai so Unohana could begin treatment of his injuries. Soifon seeing Yamamoto nod in agreement with Yoruichi bitterly turned to Coal "How would you suggest we make contact with them?"

" Using scrolls sealed with the power of chaos. They will know that they were created my either Eve or I. We then scatter them in the outskirts of Roukougai. Trust me, they will find at least one." Coal responded.

"Ok then I shall lead of the force in charge of scattering the scrolls" Soifon said.

Coal however answered "I would request that I am put in charge of this force along with Toshiro. I believe it is best that there are 2 high level units involved."

Yamamoto for the first time since Coal arrived spoke "I think Soifon should be the captain in charge of this since she works out in Roukougai often however I believe Coal should be on the force as well."

"So I shall have to have a rogue as my second in command!?" demanded Soifon who clearly disliked Coal.

Shunsui answered "Oh I don't know about him being second in command to you?'

Soifon looked slightly confused at this statement since in the event that a Captain was part of a squadron they were always in command over anyone else. At least in any event other than……….

"I hereby nominate Coal to take the captain's test." Soifon turned and looked daggers at Toshiro for saying such thing. Unohana shook her head and told Toshiro not to yell like that while she was treating his lung.

"I second the motion"," and I'll 3rd it." Shunsui and Ukitaki added.

"It is settled then. Coal shall take the captains exam tomorrow afternoon at 5" Yamamoto said finalizing the motion. "Now are there any other issues that need to be addressed." He asked looking around the wrecked room with the captains standing in complete disarray. "Then meeting adjourned."

As the captains began to head toward the door Shunsui turned to Toshiro. "I have been a captain for over 100 years and I must say, that is the most interesting captain's meeting I have ever attended."


	3. What Lies Ahead

**Chapter 3: What lies ahead**

Shunsui, Toshiro, Yoruichi, and Coal now sat in the 4th squad barracks. Toshiro and Coal were both healed but were exhausted. Eve was also still sleeping since Unohana had given her an anesthetic. Shusui spoke to Coal" Well I would like you to expand on what exactly is going on now that we are in a less hostile setting."

"Certainly, what would you like to know about it?" Coal answered

"Well I don't want you to explain quite yet. I think it would be best if notes were taken to make sure I don't forget anything. Now personally I'm a terrible note taker but my lieutenant is wonderfully organized. So I would like to wait for her. She shouldn't be long."

Coal barely had time to say "Fair enough" before they heard footsteps moving quickly down the hall. They door burst open and Matsumoto Rangiku burst into the room. She moved quickly to Toshiro and demanded "why didn't you send me a message that you had been in a fight? Toshiro you should tell me if you are gravely injured like this!"

"I didn't think it was urgent to inform you." Answered Toshiro "and that's Captain Hitsugaya."

Coal wondered why Shunsui's lieutenant would be so mad about Toshiro not telling her that he was injured. Shunsui answered the question that had not even occurred to Coal "That isn't my lieutenant. My lieutenant, Nanao, is standing behind you." Coal whipped around in surprise to find Nanao standing in the door. She turned to Shunsui "I have done as you requested Captain. I'm prepared to take notes and have brought you sake." She said the last part with an extremely disapproving look.

"Thank you Nanao." Shunsui answered apparently unphased by the cold look his lieutenant gave him.

After a quick round of introductions they began. Yoruichi spoke first "The Order of the Black Mask I gather has existed for some time. How did it come into being?"

Coal took a deep breath and began "I don't know the exact details but the short version is that 6 Shinigami who wished to or no longer could be a part of the 13 protection squads made an alliance and escaped Soul Society. They worked together to erase most of their info from the records and disappear. In time apparently one of them came up with the Oath of Chaos. It is a ceremony that gives you the powers of chaos. One of its side effects is the black mask."

"The powers of chaos" Toshiro repeated "I assume you refer to the strange kido you used in our fight."

"Indeed, chaos kido is quite powerful and doesn't require an incantation. A normal kido of the same number is only about half as strong." Coal explained. "Chaos fire disrupts the natural order of things and can burn anything I have encountered."

"So we will be facing a group of people with that ability if this comes to war." Yoruichi then inquired "how many are there?"

"Since Eve and I defected there should be only 9 others." Coal answered.

"I noticed you said 'formerly ranked 8th'. So how long ago did you leave the order?" Toshiro asked.

"5 years ago." Coal said simply

"So you no longer know if you actually are 8th strongest."

"Eve and I have trained hard knowing the order reacts to defectors the same way the Seireitei does. I might very well be stronger than number 7. I honestly may have passed number 6 if he hasn't been training hard enough."

"Well that's some good news and what about the black masked hollows?" Shunsui was the one who spoke this time.

"They are the reason we left their ranks." Coal answered "Those abominations should never have been created. They were still working out the effects when we left but it seems they have perfected them now. They have the following properties: First, they only attack normal shinigami, this does not include Vizards or order members. Second, they lose what is left of their hollow minds. Third, their power is multiplied by approximately 2 times. Due to this last statement they are relatively dangerous, especially if they manage to obtain menos which they were attempting to do."

The room sat silent for a moment until finally Yoruichi spoke in a grave tone "What do you honestly think the chances of them accepting an offer of diplomacy is?"

"I have no idea. I only once met number 1 and have no idea what kind of person he is."

"And if they don't accept your offer are you ready to fight your former comrades?"

Coal paused for just a moment before giving his answer "At that point I believe there will be no other option."

Shunsui could tell this conversation would produce nothing more than unpleasant conversation from here and changed the subject. "Why is your sword release and chaos kido in a different tongue?"

"It was an unexpected side effect of the Oath of Chaos. We can all understand it but anyone outside the order has never heard of the language." Coal answer still with the look of someone with a bitter taste in his mouth from the last discussion. (Note from the author: The language is in fact latin and from here on out I will be supplying the translation in the same manner I do for Japanese.)

"There is something that has been bugging me." Yoruichi was speaking once more "You appear to be a regular shinigami. Why did you become a member of the order in the first place?"

"I was part of a patrol squad sent into the real world in an area populated by unusual numbers of hollows. We were supposed to locate and subdue the uprising but things went wrong about 2 years after our deployment. We finally discovered why so many hollows where gathered there: It was an arrancar. We also discovered that he had been holding back a considerable number of hollows which we then had to fight. The battle didn't go well. When the arrancar killed my squad leader I realized how bad the situation had become. That was the first time I had ever released my bankai in battle. I had achieved it 3 years before but I had told no one about it. It was too little too late. Though every single hollow save the arrancar itself lay dead so did my entire squad. I wasn't ready to fight the arrancar and I was exhausted from the previous fights. Just as I realized my fate, she came from the darkness and cut the arrancar in two. She stood before me like any other shinigami save the glistening black mask and the sword engulfed in chaos fire. That was the first time I met Eve." Coal's eyes wandered to Eve who was still sleeping before continuing. "Then she asked me something I didn't expect 'Please don't make me kill you.' That was the first thing she ever said to me. She then explained briefly about the order and that in order to protect the secrecy of their existence she would have to kill me because I had seen her mask unless I myself agreed to join the order. With the only options being death and joining the order the choice was pretty easy."

Yoruichi looked satisfied with this explanation but inquired further "So why was she in the order?"

"That is a question that I think only she has the right to answer."

"Ok then how about why didn't you come directly to Soul Society when you discovered there plot."

"Mostly because we thought Soul Society might react the way Soifon did. Also it wasn't as urgent a matter then."

"So you have been running around for 5 year trying to avoid both Soul Society and The Order of the Black Mask?"

"And trying to keep an eye on the latter" Coal added.

"Your something else, I'll give you that" conceded Yoruichi.

"Well I think that's enough for one night." Shunsui interjected "Plus we're out of sake."

Coal awoke the next day feeling rejuvenated. As he got up he wondered if should wake Eve up but decided it was better to let her sleep. Matsumoto had agreed to fill her in when she awoke which should be an hour before his exam but knowing Eve probably would be during.

That day he wandered through the 9th squad barracks knowing that if he passed the captains exam this was to be his squad. As he walked through he remembered his own time in this barracks and how the first time he had ever seen a bankai. Tosen had gathered them together because some of them wanted to know just what a bankai was like. He remembered the absolute darkness of that attack and wondered if even now he would be prepared to counter such an ability. However that was not the most pressing threat what he needed to worry about was what would happen if the order didn't accept his offer. He had made the messages and sealed them this morning along with a reluctant Soifon.

It was nearly time for the test now. He headed toward the 1st squad barracks. As he pushed open the door he was met with the sight of 4 captains waiting for him: Toshiro, Shunsui, Soifon and the Captain-Commander himself. Also off to the side having asked to observe the exam was Yoruichi. Yamamoto spoke "Are you prepared to take the hardest exam of your life?"

Coal paused and a smile split his face. "Yes" He could barely contain his excitement at this point as his hand moved to his sword.


	4. Flower Petals and Surprises

**Chapter 4: Flower petals and surprises**

Eve left the room with Rangiku now up to date. She didn't doubt Coal had what it takes to become a captain but still couldn't help but feel a little worried. They headed for the door but were stopped by Unohana to inspect whether Eve had healed properly. As they left the fourth squad barracks at a light sprint Eve wanted to run at full speed to see Coal. She knew this was pointless since Coal wouldn't be out of his captain's exam for some time and it seemed mean to leave Matsumoto behind anyways. As they darted through the seireitei she wondered what squad Coal would be given if he became captain. Mostly she was just glad he wasn't dead after an encounter with a captain whilst unable to use bankai.

They were nearing the 1st squad barracks now. As they turned a corner Eve felt it. Powerful reiatsu was waiting in the courtyard up ahead. Eve and Rangiku came to a halt before Captain Kuchiki. He spoke as if emotionless "I would like to have a word with you, Eve."

"About what?" Eve asked with the uncomfortable feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

"Why are you here?" He said this in the same cold voice.

"I think Coal already explained that."

"He did but you didn't."

"Meaning"

"Coal has convinced the other captains of his truthfulness but you have not explained your side of this at all."

"Well I was asleep and I must ask if this is really the only time we can do this?" She was beginning to get irritated.

"I think the sooner the better." Byakuya said unflinching.

"Well I can't say I have much interest in participating in this interrogation." Her muscles began to tense.

Rangiku interjected "You are talking to the captain of the 6th squad do you really think it wise to anger him like this."

Eve looked around having temporarily forgotten Rangiku was there. "I am aware of who I face. He is Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain of the 6th squad."

"Well if you have no respect for your superiors I suppose I will have to at least teach you to acknowledge us for our superior skill."

The kick hit before Byakuya could draw his sword forcing him to block with his right hand. To this he responded with drawing his sword with his left hand despite the fact that he was right handed. Eve pushed off his arm doing a back flip over his sword and disappeared into shunpo. Byakuya could follow her while she was using shunpo but he realized immediately that he couldn't keep up with her. Byakuya observed that she was faster than Coal as well which meant she was probably around Soifon's speed. Byakuya found this irritable though he showed no signs of it as he continued to deflect and counter her attacks. She now had her sword drawn and was continuing to come closer and closer to injuring Byakuya.

Matsumoto stood dumbstruck watching the battle. Were all the members of The Order of the Black Mask this insane? Eve didn't hesitate to fight a captain. Matsumoto backed slowly away from the fight until she quite suddenly ran into something. She turned to find to her great alarm Captain Zaraki. He spoke simply "I felt a fight going on but it seems there is no one here for me to fight." Matsumoto wasn't sure whether to be insulted or glad that she was apparently insignificant.

They stood facing each other once more. Byakuya sighed realizing he had no choice if he wished to subdue her. He held his sword vertically before him said" I shall show you but a glimpse of my true power……_Chire_ (scatter)" His sword separated into pink petals and after a short pause Eve burst out laughing.

Byakuya was taken aback by this reaction. Eve attempted to regain her composer and said still shaking a little with laughter "I'm sorry, I'm sure you're zanpakto is very dangerous but I expected something a little scarier than pink flower petals. I mean you said it with such a somber expression as if you were going to unleash the black plague on me or something of that sort and then…….Cherry Blossoms!" At this point she once more succumbed to laughter. Byakuya seemed most annoyed at this. Matsumoto was trying not to laugh herself, scared Byakuya would kill her.

Byakuya swung the handle of his sword. The petals flew at Eve like a wall of nearly invisible daggers. She was forced to quickly yell "Way of Defense 39 Enkosen (Arc Shield)". The spinning yellow kido protected her from the attack not a moment too soon. She was now much more serious about the pink flower petals since they had tried to kill her. Realizing this was no time for games Eve yelled "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo! (Release)"

It appeared from nowhere to cover her face. Her mask seemed somewhere between human and cat. There were etchings on her forehead that looked like cat ears and marks on the left side of her mask the looked like whiskers. Her mask covered only her face and stop just below her nose save the left side of her mask which covered her left cheek as well.

"I see" said Byakuya calmly "so you are ready to really fight now."

"Not quite, just one more thing." Eve said with a smile. "_Ostendo Sum Vestri __**Victoria Umbra**_ (unveil thyself **Victory's Shadow**)" The outside of her blade seemed to tear away as if it were nothing more the cloth to reveal a blade made of pure crystal. The cutting edge of the blade was blue while the back of the blade was green. The 2 halves met in a complex design that words could not do justice to. She raised her sword in anticipation. Byakuya was right, the real fight started now.

Eve came like lightning but the petals blocked her way with an almost lazy swing of Byakuya's sword arm. His other hand gathered kido and responded to her attack with "Way of Binding 61 Rikujokoro (Six Rods Prison of Light)" Eve responds with "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis(repulse)" this caused a small explosion of chaos fire forming a sphere about 6'6" in diameter completely incinerating Byakuya's kido.

"Chaos kido has a natural advantage over normal kido since it causes the structure of the kido to become unstable. With normal kido this results in it collapsing if it isn't strong enough. This makes Atrox Ocis an amazingly useful defense. "Eve explained. "Now it time for you to taste my power."

She jumped high and cut the air. As she did so the blue portion of her sword glowed leaving a black slash behind it. Byakuya brought his petals into a mass to block the attack but it didn't move. He suddenly saw Eve coming from the left he moved his petals to block her path but she simply cut the air leaving the dark cut once more he followed her with his petals as she continued to the left. Suddenly he heard the rush behind him he dodged right just in time to avoid the first slash. He understood now turning quickly to the second slash which had just begun to move. He knew what was coming and called out "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (white lightning). " his white kido intercepted the dark attack as he turned his attention to Eve's inevitable attack. She was nearly to him when he intercepted her with his swarm of petals she jumped back cutting a horizontal black cut at the top and as she fell leaving a vertical black slash. She circled right as Byakuya held his swarm between him and the slashes. She rocketed at him just as the first cut hit. He waited for the second cut as it would still leave plenty of time to block her way. The cut didn't come and Byakuya realized too late that the time between when she cut the air and when the attack hit must vary from slash to slash. He dodge back to avoid her first slash and caught the second with the hilt of his sword. She rose up and kicked him from the left he caught her foot with his hand only then to realize she was beginning to focus kido with her still free left hand. Only now did the second slash hit. He quick let go of her foot and said "Way of Destruction 1 Sho (thrust)" sending he flying away from him into the air. This caught her so off guard that her kido dissipated.

As Eve landed she smiled. "So what do you think of my _Atrum Mirum_ (dark surprise). My zanpakto's attack hangs in the air for a while allowing me to reposition and attack at the same time as the slash. The more powerful the slash the longer it hangs in the air but I suppose you already surmised as much."

"Your zanpakto may be interesting but not particularly dangerous in my opinion. You may have come close but despite your speed advantage you are yet to hit me." Byakuya said casually.

"We'll see" Eve said as she launched another assault on Byakuya. As she let loose another _Atrum Mirum _Byakuya couldn't help but notice that this attack was easily avoidable by shunpo. Since the attack could not change direction once it was created it wasn't dangerous against a mobile opponent. He simply would use shunpo to move to the left a few feet. That's when it happened. As he used an attack from his small swarm to cover his movement and began to shunpo he was suddenly cut across his left arm. He hadn't even made it a foot how could she possibly have gotten around _**Senbonzakura**_(thousand Cherry Blossoms)(his sword) that fast. She was coming from his right now. He backed away while keeping his eyes locked on her to see if he could discern her technique. He was suddenly cut again from behind clean across his back. He didn't know where to counter-attack. Was the girl in front of him some kind of illusion? He had his Senbonzakura cover his back as he prepared to meet her head on in the front. He suddenly got an idea. He spun the hilt of his sword a single time in his hand. Her eye darted momentarily to the sword. He now knew this was no illusion. If it had been an illusion and she was really somewhere behind him she could not have seen the hilt spin due to his cherry blossoms and the illusion would not have looked at it. With a swing of his hilt he rushed his petals forward and to prevent her attack forcing her to use shunpo to escape.

Eve stood at odds with a confused Byakuya. "What did you just do?" Byakuya ask with clear angst in his voice.

At these words Kenpachi let out a bellow of laughter."I never thought I'd see the day when I caught on before you did Kuchiki Byakuya."

Byakuya turned and asked "Well are you going to explain?"

Kenpachi smiled broadly and stated" she leaves cuts hanging in the air whenever the green part of her blade glows."

"What!?"

"What you haven't noticed as she moves around the field she cuts the air at random while she runs. I didn't know what she was doing until you triggered one. "Kenpachi said with a maniacal smile.

Eve smiled "A good explanation indeed. The technique is called _Mirum Proelium _(Surprise attack)."

The full weight of the situation hit Byakuya now. She had been setting it up since she released her zanpakto. She had been creating traps all over the field as she went and now the entire battle field was potentially dangerous. She used _Atrum Mirum_ to force him to move and run into her _Mirum Proelium_. The 2 moves worked together as 2 halves of her offense. He now realized continuing to fight her in this fashion could prove dangerous.

"You have convinced me of how dangerous you are so I shall show you my true power." His blade reformed before him and he slowly turned his blade upside down. Byakuya was about to let go when he appeared.

He stood calmly in a captain's haori with the number 9's symbol on its back. He stood with one of his legs lightly cut from _Mirum Proelium_. As he held Byakuya's sword hand closed tightly around Senbonzakura Coal stared Byakuya in the eye and asked "What exactly is going on here?" He said it with more than a little threat in his voice.


	5. Inevitability

**Chapter 5: Inevitability**

The tension was intense. Byakuya looked a little alarmed by Coal's sudden appearance. Coal calmly asked "well just why are you attacking my 3rd seat?"

The tense moment was interrupted by a sudden yell from Eve "What do you mean 3rd seat!"

"I thought it best to leave Hisagi as lieutenant to ease the transition." Coal countered still not fully recovered from the surprise outburst. Eve made an exceptionally threatening growling noise under her breath. Coal while maintaining his calm demeanor turned back to Byakuya and asked "Like I was saying, why are you attacking my lieutenant?" Eve smiled a little in victory.

"I still don't really trust either of you but I suppose I'll have to put up with it." Byakuya answered emotionlessly. Byakuya pulled his hand from Coal's grasp and turned to walk away but as he took his first step _Mirum Proelium_ cut his right arm.

Eve calmly sheathed her sword and for just a moment Byakuya saw how many slashes she had left around the field as the dispersed. It was astounding, there had to around 30 or 40 of them.

A voice came from the edge of the field "Glad to hear you two are done because it's our turn Coal." Kenpachi launched himself forward and coal barely managed to draw in time.

"I don't have time for a fight with a captain level shinigami right now. Yamamoto says it's time for me to oversee the scattering of those messages to The Order of the Black Mask." Coal Answered while holding back Kenpachi's sword.

Kenpachi looked extremely put out by this. "I suppose I shouldn't go against the old man's orders." Though even as he said this Coal had the distinct feeling he was considering doing so anyways.

Yachiru popped out of nowhere on Kenpachi's shoulder and whined "Gramps takes all the fun out of things."

*******

They were headed to the outskirts of Rukongai now. Eve was traveling with Hisage Shuhei with a small team behind them. It was odd since she had just been given his position and even odder was that he had not even needed an explanation. She now felt uneasy being around him as if she felt she should justify her rank.

They had met with their new squad and had briefly introduced themselves. They then chose who would be going with them on this mission and met up with the 2nd squad. Soifon and Coal seemed to dislike each other greatly and decided that each squad would take half of Rukongai. From there they split it up so either a captain or a lieutenant was in charge of each quarter of the great city. They had headed out messages in hand toward the outskirts of the city.

As they finished leaving the last message and the rest of the squad headed home. Hisage stopped Eve to talk to her. "You don't understand why I let go of my post so easily do you?"

"No, I don't. Do you simply trust your new captain that easily?" Eve asked.

"No the answer is simple."

"Really what's that?"

"I saw your fight with Captain Kuchiki. After seeing that I know how powerful you really are. I can't say I'm on par with you."

"Oh, ok then. I'm happy that you're so understanding of this."

"But I do have some bad news."

"What's that?"

"Ikkaku the 3rd seat of the 11th squad also saw your fight."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Because now he wants to fight you."

"Oh and that's bad because?

" he wants to fight you now."

"Like right now. Like right where we are standing."

"That would be why he is behind you."

Eve turned around to find 4 men behind her: Abarai Renji, Iba Tetsuzaemon, Madarame Ikkaku, Ayasegawa Yumichika. Eve for obvious reasons didn't recognize any of these people but immediately noticed that 2 of them were her fellow lieutenants. She therefore automatically turned to face Renji guessing he was the strongest of the group though she chose to address the group as a whole "which of you is Ikkaku?"

"I am and you better be prepared to fight like you mean it." Ikkaku yelled excitedly.

"You are my opponent? And you're not a lieutenant?" Eve asked in surprise and confusion.

"I wouldn't worry about Ikkaku." Renji answered "he is much stronger than many of the lieutenants."

"And are the rest of you just here to watch?"Eve asked looking at the others

"Yes, except Renji, he is here to stop Ikkaku if this gets out of hand." Iba explained

"Then who here is the medic?" Eve asked calmly "because when I'm done with him he will almost certainly need one."

"Now that is the kind of response I like to here!" Ikkaku answered excitedly. "However I must ask 2 favors before we begin."

"Go ahead."

"First, I would like us to move farther away from the city and second, I would ask that you never tell anyone what my full power is."

"Both those conditions suit me just fine."

A few dozen shunpo steps later they stood in an open rocky area prepared to fight each other. Iba yelled loudly "combatants at the ready………BEGIN!"

They shot at each other like lightning. Eve brought her sword down at Ikkaku who blocked with his sheath and countered with a stab. Eve swung to her right to avoid the slash and aimed a kick at ikkaku's left side. He blocked by pushing her sword back and using his sheath to block while bringing his own sword swinging towards her forcing Eve to block with her own sword. They pushed apart Eve now having a good idea what she was up against. She knew now that it was probably best to release her sword sooner rather than later since it would be difficult to break through his 2 handed style without it. "_Ostendo Sum Vestri __**Victoria umbra**_(unveil thyself **Victory's Shadow**)." Her blade revealed its crystal form and she cut a black slash in the air. Ikkaku moved immediately flanking to the left of the slash. Eve used her superior speed to trap him between her and the path her _Atrum Mirum _(dark surprise) would shortly take. She collided with him with such force that he had no choice but to block with both his sword and his sheath. He however held his ground and Eve found she wasn't strong enough to force him back into the path of her attack. As she pulled back she swung her sword as the green half glowed faintly. Ikkaku failed to notice this and as Eve's _Atrum Mirum _whipped past behind him he walked into her _Mirum Proelium _(surprise attack) in front of him. The attack cut horizontally across his chest.

Eve stated calmly "you are no match for me fighting like that."

"You're one to talk you aren't even taking me seriously." Ikkaku answered

"You're yet to give me a reason to."

"Well then" He slammed his hilt into his sheath and said "_Nobiro__** Hozukimaru**_(grow **Demon light**)." With a spin of his now connected sword and sheath his spear emerged. "Let's see if I can't give you a reason!"

He came again his spear thrusting past the left side of Eve. Eve responded by cutting Ikkaku down his left side however she noted how intense his reiatsu was as she did not cut as deep as she expected. Ikkaku smiled and called _Sakero_ (split). His spear split into 3 pieces and wrap around eve to hit from the right. Eve blocked this attack with her sword quickly and responded with a kick to Ikkaku's stomach. As Ikkaku was pushed back Eve left another _Mirum Proelium_ between them. Ikkaku paused before swinging his spear in front of him. He paused in slight confusion and asked "Why didn't the attack hit my spear?"

"My _Mirum Proelium_ won't hit just anything. It only strikes when it feels the high density reiatsu in your body." Eve answered simply "Your average Shinigami can't exert that kind of reiatsu outside their body."

As the 2 reconvened their violent interactions Hisage turned to Renji and said "He can't win against her. She isn't even going her full speed yet."

"I guess as much." Renji replied as Ikkaku got cut once again by _Mirum Proelium._ "She must be much faster than this to keep up with my captain."

"Even if he uses 'it' he won't be able to catch her." Hisage said. "On top of the speed disadvantage she hasn't used any kido which she is clearly capable of."

"Well it looks like we are going to find out how big his disadvantages are even when he is at his best." Renji answered pointing to an Ikkaku who was looking quite beat up but seemed to be drawing energy to himself.

"I guess I have no choice but to go all out." Ikkaku said with a look in his eye that was akin to bloodlust. He spun his spear and let out a single word: "BANKAI!!!"

For the first time in the entire fight Eve stopped dead in absolute shock. Of all the things that he might do the last thing she had expected was bankai. But as she stood facing the now settling cyclone, she knew that this could only be a bankai. The storm cleared revealing Ikkaku armed with 3 huge weapons that were chained together. He held one weapon in each hand while the last weapon seemingly floated in midair behind him.

"This is _Ryumon Hozukimaru_ (Dragon Crest Demon Light)! This is my bankai!" He said it with smile that looked like he was about to start laughing like a mad man.

Ikkaku charged and Eve dodged away. The good news seemed to be that he hadn't gotten any faster. The bad news was that not only had he gotten stronger but it seemed he was still slowly gaining strength. As she continued to keep her distance she let loose several _Atrum Mirum_s but Ikkaku simply cut through them. With his intensified reiatsu her _Mirum Proelium _barely cut into his skin. If she could hit him directly with a full power _Atrum Mirum _she could probably finish this fight. Eve sighed it looked like she would really have to try for a few seconds in order to finish this.

Eve let loose her full speed now. She cut _Atrum Mirum _as she made a wide circle around at her top speed. As she reached where she started the first attack flew. They would spiral inward forcing him upward allowing her to strike from so many angles that he could not hope to block them all. Things did not go according to plan. As they spiraled inward Ikkaku grabbed his central weapon and spun his bankai. This allowed him to block all of her attacks. Ikkaku was starting to annoy her.

Ikkaku yelled "So are you going to use bankai?"

"I don't think I'll need to." Eve answered.

"Have it your way. I'll just have to convince you to show it to me."

"I think not."

Ikkaku spun his bankai once more and yelled "We'll see what you think once you see _Hozukimaru _fully awake!"

Ikkaku's weapon seemed to be exploding with reiatsu now. Eve now saw what a dangerous weapon his bankai really was but it would make no difference. As Ikkaku charged Eve jumped over him. Ikkaku turned around to attack again but he was met by her sweeping past him under his right arm cutting his side. He again turned to face her but she was already upon him again. He swung at her forcing her to flip over his blade. He turned to face her again expecting another attack but instead she stood there smiling.

"Are you finally going to show me what you can really do?" Ikkaku asked.

"This fight is over." Eve answered.

"Really how do you…" Ikkaku's answer came before he could finish the question. The _Atrum Mirum _fell like a guillotine. She had set it when she had jumped over him the first time but since he had simple turned to face her he hadn't noticed. It cut deep into his back causing him to crumple to the floor. The fight was over.

Suddenly a voice said "Nicely done Eve, I would expect nothing less."

Everyone turned quickly to see who had said it. Eve stared in shock. This was definitely bad. Before her stood two men: the first was average build wearing a leather jacket and black jeans, he had short brown wavy hair and Eve might have said he was hansom if she didn't dislike him so much; the second was a head taller and built thicker, he wore white pants and a white jacket without sleeves that was zipped up to his neck, he had a cold look in his eye and sleeked back black hair, he also wore what looked like an ornate black crown with a white edge. The first man was Sean and the second was Claude. They were both members of The Order of the Black Mask.


	6. Black and White

**Chapter 6: Black and White**

Eve stood facing what was sure to be a near impossible fight. Sean and Claude were both quite dangerous and while she felt confident that she was stronger than Claude, whether or not she was ready to take on Sean 1-on-1 was questionable. She decided to feign an attempt at diplomacy while she was thinking it over. "So have you found and read our message?"

Sean answered "Found it but I haven't personally read it yet. However that isn't the issue at hand. I have found a defector of the order and I am obligated to kill you."

So it seemed that Sean would not be distracted. There was only one option. Eve turned to Renji and Iba "between the 2 of you who is weaker?"

Iba was a little taken aback by the bluntness of her question but then answered" I suppose I am."

"Ok then take Ikkaku and try to find Coal." Eve stated this as an order despite being equal to his rank. She turned to Renji and Hisage as Iba left "You two are going to fight the one wearing white."

"So you're going to take me on yourself then." Sean had a smile as if he had been hoping for this. He turned to Claude and said "go ahead and play with those 2. I'll be fine fighting her on my own."'

Claude calmly said "I don't think these 2 know what they are in for."

"Don't fool around too much Claude, that one Eve was fighting before could use Bankai. Who knows what they might be able to do." Sean said before turning to Eve "Well I think it is about time we got started. _Orior __**Luna Arcus**_(rise **Crescent Moon**)."

His sword took the shape of a crescent moon. It had an indent on the inside of the curve which held the handle of the blade. The sword end to end was as tall as Sean was. He held the blade horizontally in front of him. Sean smiled deviously and Eve knew the time had come. She ripped a black slash into the air in front of her and began to circle her opponent to the left. Sean watched her seemingly ignoring her _Atrum Mirum_. She slashed the air repeatedly as she went leaving _Mirum Proelium_. She had to limit his maneuverability as much as possible now because she wouldn't have time to later. He suddenly launched himself at her as her _Atrum Mirum _began to move. She blocked his attack pushing back away from him. He attempted to pursue but she quickly cut around to the left of him. Sean quickly changed hands to block the attack. He pushed her away with relative ease but the look of surprise on his face remained. He used to be faster than her but this clearly was no longer the case. Her strength had increased also. Eve smiled broadly. She knew she had gotten a lot stronger but she didn't realize until now that she may have surpassed Sean.

"I see now is not the time to be holding back." Sean said "You have gotten a lot stronger"

Eve knew what was coming now and began gathering her own energy. They yelled in unison "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (release). " Her cat mask appeared once more. She now faced a mask she had seen many times. It covered mostly only the left side of his face. It was shaped like the black half of a yin-yang. The wide circular part was at the bottom of his face. The black circle that normally was within the white part of the yin-yang covered his eye. There were sharp small holes for eyes. Things were about to get interesting.

Sean started by charging Eve head on while focusing kido in his other hand. Eve charged to meet him and slashed the air before they could meet. She then blocked his attack. Eve pulled back as Sean shifted to the left around the _Mirum Proelium _Eve had left. "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)." A pointed fireball with a spiraling tail exploded from his hand. Eve dodged blocked the kido with an _Atrum Mirum_ which was completely burned up in the dark fire. He suddenly came from her left She blocked his attack as she finished reading her own kido "Way of Chaos 15 Ignis Spherae (Fire sphere)" It looked like she had caught him with that attack for sure but she knew better. She turned quickly barely blocking his crescent blade. She slid back from the force of the impact. She stared at the now complete yin-yang on his face. So the vizard had shown his true nature. This battle was about to get ugly.

On the other side of the field Renji swung his released sword. It extended slamming into his opponent. Who slid sideways a little from the force of the collision but managed to deflect it. Claude had been defending from their attacks most of the time occasionally lashing out with his sword if they got too close. Even stranger was that he had refused to release his sword when asked. Hisage attacked from behind with his black whirling blade. Claude blocked easily but as he turned to face Hisage he was cut by a _Mirum Proelium_ left over from the previous battle. It cut across his upper chest and as Hisage landed next to Renji who was now frozen in surprise and horror. Through the cut for just a moment Renji had seen something. He wasn't sure he had really seen what he thought he saw but he suspected that this was why his opponent had not released his sword.

Renji yelled "Hey, it's Claude right. Would you kindly unzip your jacket for a moment?"

"So your eyes were sharp enough to see it." Claude said as he unzipped his jacket. Just about where his upper abs should have been there was a hole in his chest. Renji hadn't noticed the difference in his reiatsu since it was so chaotic but this explained why he had not used kido the entire fight despite the fact that he had been wearing his black mask. Claude was an arrancar.

Claude began slowly "Now you're probably wondering how I came to be with a bunch of shinigami. I was an outcast once. I had no desire to serve under my creator so I left. I wandered alone for a long time until I found the order. They were going to kill me at first but they saw me kill another arrancar who called me a traitor. Sean asked the leader of the order if they would spare me and allow me to instead join. He saved my life that day. They took me in and made me one of their own. With them I belonged despite being different. With them I belonged because I was different! Now I fight for them no matter the opponent! I am Claude ranked 9th in The Order of the Black Mask and I will crush you!" He swung his sword high and yelled "_Obtero __**Cancer Rex**_ (crush **King Crab**)!"

He grew 20 feet tall. His body was in 2 sections. The lower section had 6 long crab legs expanding from a crab like body. They were in sets of 3 on either side. Each leg was at least 14 feet long and the ends looked sharp. Each leg had 3 rows of spikes down the outside of it. From the center of his lower section his upper section grew. It was humanoid other than the fact that his arms had become large 6 foot long arms with huge claws at the end. There were small spines covering the top and bottom of the claws making them dangerous to make contact with even on the outside. His mask had become larger and more ornate. His new massive form was mostly white and clearly well armored.

Claude raised his claw and as it opened it revealed a large dark blue cero. Renji and Hisage split in 2 directions with shunpo. Renji swung _**Zabimaru**_(**Snake Tail**) at him but it glanced off without phasing Claude at all. It seemed his armor was quite thick indeed. Claude simply lashed out with one of his legs. Renji blocked the incoming attack but was thrown into a tree by its incredible force. Hisage came from behind yelling "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (Pale Lightning)" the kido hit the point where his 2 sections meet which appeared to be the most vulnerable area but it seem to do all but nothing to his opponent. Claude swung his claw backwards at Hisage rashly but missed. As Hisage landed however he suddenly found 2 of Claude's legs coming down at him. Hisage blocked but it was too no avail against Claude's incredible strength and was slammed into the ground. One of Claude's legs cut deep into his right shoulder. Renji slammed his sword strait into Claude's chest in order to distract him from Hisage. This got his attention though it barely injured him. Claude grabbed _**Zabimaru**_ with his right claw before it could retract. Claude then aimed his left claw's cero at Renji. The attack was interrupted by Eve kicking off Claude's claw causing him to miss by a few feet and let go off Renji's blade. As she reversed direction she met Sean in mid-air who had been pursuing her. They twisted in mid-air and Sean flew up back towards Claude as Eve landed on the ground next to Renji.

"You could have mentioned that he was an arrancar." Renji said angrily as Sean landed on Claude's shoulder.

"It didn't really occur to me." Eve said half distracted.

"Well it doesn't matter now, does it?" Hisage had made it to them. His shoulder looked painful.

"We can't allow them to fight together or we are going to die. They are incredibly dangerous as a team." Eve said still worried about dealing with Sean. She might be able to take Sean as long as it remained a 1-on-1 match. He could only maintain his white mask for a little over a minute at a time, but he would recover the ability to summon it in about 4-7 minutes depending on how tough the battle was. During his short burst of the white mask he outclassed her in pretty much every way but as long as she fought defensively she should be able to avoid major injury until his mask dissipated. This was however contingent on Claude not meddling in the fight. This also was more touch and go once Sean activated his bankai though she was fairly confident she could compensate for this using her own bankai. She turned to Renji "do you think you can keep Claude busy without endangering yourself to much?"

"I think I can manage. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Renji replied. "Are you sure you can handle that other guy? He seems to be a cut or 2 above Claude."

"I think I can manage as long as Claude doesn't interfere too much." Eve answered. "And his name is Sean, he is ranked 7th in the order."

"8th" Eve spun around in surprise. It was Sean who had spoken.

Eve paused for a moment before the shock seemed to where off. "So she's stronger than you now." Eve seemed to be talking more to herself than Sean.

Sean attacked suddenly. Eve dodged backwards barely avoiding his curved blade. The complete yin-yang gleamed in the sunlight. Eve continued to avoid and block his attacks. She used _Mirum Proelium _to prevent his direct pursuit.

Mean while Renji faced a massive claw attempting to crush him. Renji held his ground and pointed his sword at the incoming attack. He let out a yell "Bankai!" The attack was repelled by a massive skeletal snake throwing Claude backwards. Renji calmly said "Now you face my full strength. _Hihio __**Zabimaru **_(Baboon King **Snake Tail**)!" The great snake circled Renji with its head eye level with Claude. "Well this is a surprise. I guess you're going to be an interesting opponent after all." Claude said with a sneer. Renji swung his handle and the gargantuan snake rushed forward. Claude dodged right and grabbed the snake just below its head. There was a dark blue light just before Claude's cero ripped through several of the great snake's segments. Renji smiled as the snake's head reattached itself. Claude stared in confusion. Renji swung _**Zabimaru**_ and the great snake rammed itself into Claude's side. The spikes on _**Zabimaru **_barely scratched Claude's thick armor. Claude stumbled to the side. As he regained his balance he spoke "That is quite a bankai you have there but it doesn't matter. Even if you can put the pieces of that snake back together it won't matter if there aren't any pieces to put back together."

Eve was cut across her back. She had lost track of Sean for a moment and it had cost her. The white side of his mask faded revealing a smirk. "You have gotten better but you're still not as good as me" Sean taunted.

"We'll see about that." Eve said and stabbed at Sean. Sean jumped backward to avoid the stab and was hit by 3 _Mirum Proelium_. There were 2 cuts on his back and 1 on his right leg.

Sean's annoyance was clear. "I guess it's about time we got serious." Sean said "They clearly are going all out over there."

Eve smiled "I guess I can't stall any longer."

The two of them stood facing each other. They gathered their energy and they yelled in unison "BANKAI!"


	7. Descending Darkness

**Chapter 7: Descending Darkness**

Sean stood with his arms strait out holding his twin blades vertically. The 2 crescent blades were dark in the middle with glowing white fangs protruding from the twin crescents. This gave the illusion of a dark circle with light peeking out from behind it. His clothes had changed, his pants were torn at the bottom and he wore a black vest with dark blue trim. He wore a blue scarf that turned into what looked like blue fire. The entire battlefield seemed to twinkle lightly like star dust hung over the field. This was Sean's Bankai, _Defectio Solis_ (Eclipse).

Eve's Bankai, _Crepusculum_(Twilight), sent the whole area dark. Her sword's green back now looked like crystallized green fire instead of being smooth. She now wore simple black pants and an equally undecorated sleeveless black top. She wore a green sash around her waist. Her hair turned black. Any sense of her reiatsu had completely disappeared.

They stood in silence facing each other. Till Sean finally spoke "Well I believe it is about time I killed you." turning his blades horizontal in preparation.

"You're welcome to try." Eve answered and she rocketed to the left. In an instant there were 5 shadows barreling through the darkness towards Sean. They split up circling him in both directions. He paused, waiting for the inevitable. Suddenly the first one struck. He blocked the frontal attack with his left sword eye to eye with a creature with no eyes. Instead there was simply blackness where they should be. He pushed the fake away with ease and spun wildly to deflect the incoming attack from behind with his right blade. 2 attacks came in quick succession pinning down both of his blades in front of him. He quickly kicked backwards meeting the 5th in chest. As he turned to the 2 in front of him he saw that the one on the right had eye's revealing her as the real one. He pulled back slashing one of the clones apart as he did so. The clone dissipated into darkness. He slashed apart another one while he blocked the fake one from the front. The true Eve slashed the air violently with both sides of her blade glowing. Sean rolled sideward throwing the fake in front of him behind him. The fake was suddenly cut by an unseen attack. He shoved his right blade into the last fake and faced the real one.

Sean spoke "I admit you have vastly improved with your bankai. It use to be I could tell the difference between them and the real you by my _Defectio Solis_ but it seems this is no longer the case. It doesn't matter though I'll just cut them all down. You will never hit me since I can feel every move you make."

"Your bankai may allow you to sense almost everything in the area but you couldn't feel my _Vetera Proelium_ (Faded attack). You dodged the long way around my invisible attack which means you can no longer feel it." Eve responded.

Sean clenched his teeth. She was right he had been unable to sense her invisible attack. He had only managed to dodge it because he had seen her swing her sword. He couldn't feel her _Mirum Proelium_ (surprise attack) either. He calmed himself, after all this was nothing to worry about his bankai's sensory ability would be far stronger once he summoned his white mask. She would not escape him then. He would be faster and stronger than her as well as be able to sense every move she made. He just had to wait for the right moment.

Across from Sean, Eve stood in equally deep thought. She knew that if Sean pulled out his white mask he would be able to feel everything and her only chance would be to avoid him till it wore off. Her _Atrum Speculum _(dark mirror) clones wouldn't be much use once he entered this state. Her best bet was to end this early. She would have to hit him with a _Flagrantia Umbra Tomus_. She had to land that attack before he could pull out his mask.

Eve closed her eyes and performed _Atrum Speculum_. Sean now stood facing 7 Eve's though only one had eyes. He smirked "So you can make 6 of them now. It doesn't really make a difference to me anyways. Besides I know the more you make the slower they move and the slower you must move to blend in with them. I'll find you in the end."

The 7 shot in all directions circling their opponent. Sean stood calmly awaiting the attack. 4 rushed in all at once. Sean twisted lightly throwing 2 off balance. A sharp kick repelled the 3rd then he blocked the 4th with one blade only to stab him with the other. The true Eve jumped above and released an unseen _Vetera Proelium_ straight down. He rolled sideward while slamming his blade into another one of Eve's shadows. As he watched her descent he saw his chance. The full yin-yang showed itself. He could feel everything now: Which one was real, where her _Mirum Proelium_ were, her weakest point, how high on her hilt she held her sword, the beating of a firefly's wings. He exploded forward. He met 3 fakes which he threw aside like dolls. He dodged around the traps Eve had set and the _Vetera Proelium_ she now furiously sent at him. Eve shot to the left in an attempt to lose him using her _Mirum Proelium _to deter him. She let loose her _Atrum Speculum _as a way of limit his movements. She carefully blocked of his movements and then yelled "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". He moved out of the way by purposely getting cut by a _Mirum Proelium._ He kept coming seemingly unfazed. Eve had forgotten what a monster he was when he was like this. She couldn't keep this up, he would catch her soon. She blocked his first attack but the force behind it was astonishing. He was on right top of her now. She cut a _Atrum Mirum_ between them stalling him for only a second as he cut it apart like smoke. She realized she would have to break his mask. What she did next she knew was nothing short of suicidal. She rushed forward blocking his first attack and jumping over his left blade. She then shoved both her feet into his face flipping backward knowing that she was completely vulnerable if she had failed to break his mask.

Sean fell backward but caught himself quickly. He was frozen in sheer shock now. She had broken his mask. Eve saw his now half uncovered face. Her time had come. 4 shadows split off from her and lined up one after the other between them. Sean stood watching it. There was no way she actually thought she could beat him. Sean yelled enraged "Don't take me so lightly I'll blow you away." He held his blades vertically at his sides and silently let go. His blades began rotate quickly behind him making the illusion of an eclipsed sun behind him. Eve landed now understanding what was about to happen. At the tip of Sean's finger a concentrated black ball of energy was forming. Eve rushed forward cutting through each of her clones. As she cut them they were absorbed as dark energy that seemed to dance like fire. Sean yelled "Now die. _Aeterus Tenebrae_ (Eternal Darkness)" as he did a monstrous black beam exploded from the ball. Eve replied as she met the black blast with her blade "_FLAGRANTIA UMBRA TOMUS_ (Blazing Shadow Cutter)."

The world stood still for Sean though the force of the impact could be felt a mile away. The clash of darkness was deafeningly loud but for Sean the world might as well have been silent. He stood unable to comprehend how. How had she gotten this strong? How could she have fought on par with him? How could she be cutting clean through his _Aeterus Tenebrae_!? Eve cut all the way through and as she raised her sword he knew it at last. He had been beaten.

Just as Eve was about to land the final blow she was knocked sideward by a huge claw. Claude stood over them. His massive form perfect save a clearly painful injury across his left shoulder. Renji was collapsed on the ground no longer able to stand. He no longer had enough reiatsu to maintain his bankai. How quickly the tables had turned. Eve now faced a tough 2-on-1 battle. While she was strong enough to beat Sean, fighting both seemed like a fool's errand.

Claude turned to Sean "Has she really become that much stronger?"

"I'm afraid so. I underestimated her." Sean replied grudgingly.

"Well we won't make that mistake again." Claude said "She won't be enough to deal with the 2 of us."

"Let's get on with it then." Sean said still looking wary of his opponent, the memory of the power behind her last attack still fresh in his mind.

Claude stepped forward and brought his claw slamming down at Eve. She dodged to her left releasing her _Atrum Speculum _and 5 shadows shot forth. Without his white mask Sean could no longer tell the difference between her and her clones. 2 of the 5 went after Claude; Sean decided to deal with them first. Claude fired cero's at the others though the chance of hitting them was slim. Sean easily caught and dispatched the first. The second blocked first attack but revealed its empty eyes. Sean pushed it upwards and Claude with a quick clamp of his left claw reduced it to nothing. Sean now turned his attention to the other shadows moving through the perpetual twilight. The 3 rushed at them. Claude fired a cero forcing them to scatter. Sean picked off the first one easily. The other 2 attempted to converge on him but were blocked by another cero. He rushed at them as soon as the cero was gone and slashed at the first. He drew blood at last. He had cut into Eve's stomach and though it wasn't particularly deep it was bleeding. Eve would have to end this quickly in order to have any chance of winning. Sean came again and she barely blocked him. She pushed away quickly to escape his second blade. She stopped just in time however. The cero ripped the earth behind her to shreds. The force of the cero pushed her forward back towards Sean. Sean met her sword with his left and stabbed her left arm with the other. This battle was quickly turning against her. She kicked Sean in the chest to dislodge his sword but Claude was already behind her. Claude could move freely on the battle field since her _Mirum Proelium _couldn't cut deep enough into his armor to make him bleed. She was met with Claude's claw sending her flying into a tree.

She stood up slowly. The pain was starting to get to her. She would have to activate her bankai's final form. She had been saving it as a trump card since none of the members of the order had seen it but she now had no choice. That's when she saw it, a site that made her heart leap: The figure in black standing behind Sean and Claude.

Sean spoke to her "You fought well and I admit you would have killed me if it was not for Claude's timely intervention but it ends here." Sean could use his bankai to feel every one of Eve's clones and their movements but he could not feel the dark figure behind him.

Eve smiled "I wouldn't count on it." The black figure was coming closer. It had a head crowned with spikes but its body seemed to have no definite shape.

"What could possibly allow you to beat the 2 of us? What could you possibly have up your sleeve that would turn the tides of this battle?" Sean asked jeeringly. The figure was now only a few feet behind Sean. Eve could clearly see the cape that hung around him now. It covered him completely from the shoulders down. It was so black that it was like it was made from the darkness itself.

"_Peneubula of Umbra_ (Great Cloak of Shadow)" she answered with a smile.

"What? That isn't your bankai. That bankai belongs to…." Sean stopped dead and spun around in horror. He had reacted to slow. A hand emerged from the cape holding a ball of yellow kido "Way of Destruction 63 Raikoho (Thunder Roar Cannon)." Sean flew backwards. Claude turned and attacked but Coal dodged with ease. He was now on eye level with Claude. "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" Claude blocked with his claws but went stumbling backwards from the force of the impact. Sean came back now wearing his white mask once more attempting to hit Coal from behind. Sean had to quickly change directions as a _Vetera Prolium _whipped past. Eve and 4 of her clones now rushed Sean. He avoided 2, cut 1 to shreds, and was forced to block the remaining 2. Coal now came at Sean from behind but was blocked by Claude's cero.

Coal yelled to Eve "Eve remember what we discussed about this situation. We have to do _that_ now." Eve knew what he was talking about. They knew if they ever ended up fighting Sean and Claude that Eve should take out Claude while Coal kept Sean busy. Only after Claude had fallen should they deal with Sean together.

Eve and her clones broke away from Sean and headed for Claude. Sean attempted to pursue but met Coal instead. Sean slashed at Coal but simply met the black cape which deflected his attack. The slash had damaged the cape but the cape simply repaired itself. Sean stood back. He had forgotten how incredibly annoying fighting _Peneubula of Umbra_ was. Sean knew he had to get some distance between them and use _Aeterus Tenebrae_ if he was to have any real chance of victory. Sean put all of the strength he could muster behind his slash but Coal simply pulled back a little making the slash feel lighter. Coal then easily deflected the attack with his cape and answered with "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (Pale Lightning)". The white blast was blocked by Sean's sword. Sean allowed the blast to send him flying backwards into the ground kicking up dust. Coal felt the Sean gathering energy deep within the dust cloud. "Take this Coal, _Aeterus Tenebrae._" Coal opened his cape wide and unleash his kido "Way of Destruction 88 Hiryugekizokushintenraiho (Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)" There was a massive explosion throwing both backwards. Sean's attack had been stronger but Coal remained uninjured thanks to his cape. Sean turned suddenly toward the fight between Eve and Claude, he had recognized the attack Eve was about to do. They could hear her voice clearly despite their distance from her "_Flagrantia Umbra Tomus!"_ The earth shook a little as Claude's right arm fell to the ground. Sean rushed at Coal again in enraged by his comrade's injury. Coal pushed him away effortlessly with his cape throwing Sean of balance. Coal's cape opened and revealed his sword. In an instant Sean had a horizontal cut across his chest.

Coal stood facing Sean, his sword had disappeared back into his cape. Sean yelled at him "This isn't over!"

"It isn't over until you lie dead on the ground in my opinion." Coal answered darkly "However at this rate it will be over shortly."

"Way of Chaos 39 Acrifatum (doom edge)." Sean spread the chaos fire over both his blades. "You are both going to hell." Eve had appeared behind Sean having left Claude collapsed on the ground.

Coal and Eve spoke in unison "Way of Chaos 39 Acrifatum." They rushed at Sean who dove sideways out of the way. He now rushed forward to meet both of them. He pushed Coal back by shoving his sword into Coal's blade while blocking Eve's attack. He then brought his sword around at Eve who had to twist her sword awkwardly to block the second burn blade. Coal had recovered quickly and Sean had to back off to avoid his blade. The battle's speed continued to increase. The evil fire danced in the false night. Sean was pushing his limits in order to maintain his mask but it wouldn't last. Finally Coal rushed him from the front knocking him of balance. Eve came from the left, ducking low beneath his blade she slashed deep into his side. As Sean fell to the ground Coal charged in to deliver the final blow. He never managed to reach Sean. He was blocked by a new arrival.

She blocked Coal's attack without strain. Coal pulled back immediately. She stood facing Eve and Coal with no apparent fear of the 2 shinigami despite the fact that they were both using their bankais. She looked like she might be 15 and was only 5' in height. She had blonde hair nearly to her waist and wore an unnerving smile. She spoke in a falsely sweet tone "I haven't seen you two in awhile, how are you?"

Coal answered as if she were the sweet, innocent girl she was unconvincingly pretending to be "We are both doing quite well. How about you, Alice?"

Alice answered "I'm working hard as usual."

"So you're still staining the streets red with the blood of your enemies." Coal answered casually.

"And enjoying every minute of it." Alice answered with a note of euphoria in her voice.

"Well are you here to kill us?" Coal asked conversationally.

"If only I were." She said with a sigh. "I fear Ignotus sent me here merely to fetch these 2." She waved her hand lazily at Sean and Claude."Don't worry I'll be more than happy to kill you next time we meet. I'll write you a demise fit for a king. I promise it will be nice and slow so you can 'enjoy' it." She giggled a little at the end which sounded like it was suppose to be cute but came off as pure evil. She then turned to Sean and Claude both of whom had reverted back to their original states. "I guess it's time we got going."

Coal yelled after Alice as the three left "I suppose we should expect you to follow standard procedure as to our message."

"Of course." Alice said courteously "Good bye until we meet again."

Coal finally breathed easy happy to be out of the presence of Alice. Alice was ranked 2nd in The Order of the Black Mask and Coal was keen on avoiding finding out why. Of all the members of the order Alice was the absolutely last person Coal wanted to fight. But she had given him the info he was after. They would respond in standard fashion for the order: If the order did not send a messenger by noon on the second day they would be at war at noon on the third day.


	8. The Moment Before

**Chapter 8: The Moment Before……**

They were nearly to the fourth squad's barracks. Renji was supporting Hisage while Coal and Eve walked along with them. Eve and Coal were discussing her fight with Sean. "I managed to cut clean through his _AeterusTenebrae._" Eve recounted looking very pleased with herself.

"You've gotten a lot stronger since you left the order. We both have actually." Coal mused.

"We really have. It's kind of surprising how much stronger we've gotten." Eve thought aloud.

Coal was about to start pondering why this might be when they came into view of the 4th squad barracks. Coming from the other direction was Kenpachi with an annoyed looking Yachiru walking next to him. Coal shouted "Hey Kanpachi, did you find Soifon?"

"Yeah but she seems to be in bad shape." Kenpachi answered. Only then did Coal notice the 2 arms wrapped around Kenpachi's neck.

"The guy she was fighting did something to her leg. She can barely stand." Kenpachi answered.

Soifon only groaned in response.

Coal looked at her legs closely as they entered the barracks. They looked like they had some sort of mutated burn on them. Coal recognized it immediately. "This is from being in contact with high density chaos fire for several seconds. This is Sceleratus' doing. He is the only one likely to cause this kind of injury. "Coal explained "She needs to see Captain Unohana immediately. The damage caused is all the way down to a cellular level. Only an experienced medic will be able to reverse this."

"Then it is a good thing I'm here." Unohana had just stepped out of a nearby room "Please follow me."

She led them into an empty ward. As soon as Kenpachi put down Soifon, Yachiru jumped back onto his shoulder. Unohana began working on her immediately. As she treated the injury she asked "this injury is similar to the stab wound you gave Toshiro correct?"

Coal answered "Yes"

"But this one is more extreme despite the skin not being broken." Unohana contemplated.

"But you can still reverse it, right?" Renji asked worried.

"Yes but it will take some time. I estimate about a week." Unohana explained. She then added "All of you should go and see Isane to get your Injuries treated. She should be done treating Ikkaku by now"

They all had temporarily forgotten that many of them were badly injured. Eve had just noticed that Coal in fact had a cut across his lower chest on his right. That's when she suddenly realized that there was no reason for Kenpachi to have been outside the Seireitei. Slowly the pieces fell into place as they went to find Isane. "Coal, you and Kenpachi had a fight didn't you!?" She said suddenly to the surprise of everyone.

"Yes. He wanted to duel me out of curiosity. I accepted." Coal answered.

"Why didn't you tell me? I spent almost the entire walk home talking about my fights and you didn't even mention you had been in a fight too." Eve interjected annoyed.

"You were so involved in your story that I didn't seem like the time to bring it up." Coal answered defensively as they entered the ward Isane pointed to.

"So what happened?" Eve persisted as Isane instructed various 4th squad members to treat their injuries.

"We fought for a little while and then lieutenant Iba showed up and told us what happened." Coal explained as a 4th squad member worked on his wound "then I asked Kenpachi to go see if Soifon had run into any trouble and headed off to meet you."

"You could at least give me a little more detail." Eve said clearly a little annoyed.

"I want to know more about this order." Renji interjected.

Coal turned to Renji surprised having temporarily forgotten about him. "They are a group who are outcast from the Seireitei for one reason or another."

"I mean I want to know what we're up against if this does come to war." Renji asked darkly. The whole room seemed to have gone silent. As all eyes fell on Coal you could hear nothing but the light hum of the healing kido.

Coal paused seemingly considering how to answer his question. Coal began slowly with a grave tone in his voice "Renji, you were defeated by Claude who is ranked 9th. He is the weakest member of the order. No one short of a captain should take on most of the members and the higher ranked members probably shouldn't be fought one-on-one by even a captain. Their abilities are quite possibly even more worrisome. Many of them do not reside in the Seireitei due to the fact that their abilities would be considered dangerous. This means their abilities are diverse and powerful. Their abilities may be unlike anything you have ever seen. You must expect the unexpected when facing them. They pride them on accepting people who don't belong anywhere. Claude is a good example of that. He was accepted despite being an arrancar."

The room returned to its eerie silence once Coal had finished as they took in what he had said. Renji spoke first "If it comes to war do you think we will win?"

"I think we will but I am by no means sure. The damage done however would be massive. We may very well lose several captains if this comes to war." Coal answered "Furthermore I don't know what to expect from the higher ranks of the order. I haven't seen 1, 2, or 4 ever release their zanpaktos. I have however seen number 3 release his and I must say it was unpleasant." Coal paused here watching Eve. None of the others noticed the shiver that went down her spine at the mention of number 3. He continued "That is why I think it is best that we at least attempt diplomacy."

"I see." Were the only words Renji was able to summon. This situation was looking worse and worse.

*******

The captain's meeting room looked as gloomy as ever. It had been 2 days since the message was sent. It was now 1 pm. There had been no response. A difficult road now lay before them. 10 captains and Yoruichi stood in silence. Soifon was still in the 4th squad barracks.

Yamamoto spoke to Coal first "You said that they will not attack until noon tomorrow, correct?"

"That is correct they will not attack before then." Coal answered.

"Is there anything anyone would like to state now before we begin planning the exact form of our defense?" Yamamoto asked. His question was directed to everyone but his eyes remained on Coal.

"I can give you little advice as too how they will attack. I can however tell you that while they can work together they rarely do. Most likely they will only work together when it is necessary. I would guess that they will work together to either break through or bypass our defense and will work relatively independently from there." Coal answered.

"So we should be able to break through their lines easily." Shunsui inferred.

"Perhaps but this also means they are unpredictable. We do however have the advantage that our lower ranks are shinigami as opposed to black masked hollows. Despite the increased power of these hollows they are still relatively hard to control directly. They will simply attack mindlessly most likely with no semblance of order. We can actually direct our lower ranks allowing us to take advantage of weaknesses in their ranks." Coal answered

"But that requires not only the captains to be informed and with their squads but you have to assume they are not separated from their squads by the order members themselves. And it seems to me that the captains will need to be the ones fighting the order members." Yoruichi interjected.

"This is true which is why I think we should leave the lieutenants in command of most of the squads. This will allow the captains to move freely. However we probably should leave a few captains leading their squads solely for the purpose of dealing with larger forces of hollows. I do not know if this will be a problem or not but I think it is better to be safe." Coal explained.

"I should be one of those captains" Ukitake answered immediately "I have no lieutenant currently."

Shunsui spoke next "I shall stay with my squad as well since Captain Ukitake and I work well together we shall direct combat with their low ranking forces."

"Ok, does that cover opening remarks?" Yamamoto asked. He was met with silence. "Then let us begin the exact positioning of squads."

*******

It was 11:50 the next day. The seireitei was putting the final touches on their defenses. A group of nine people stood out at the edge of Rukongai. They seemed like an odd group. There were 3 girls and 6 guys. 7 of them had swords. 1 had a scythe on his back. The remaining person seemed to have no weapon at all though he was one of the only 2 people wearing a black mask. The other was Claude. The group varied in height from a girl with blonde hair at 5' to a man standing in front at 6'8". Their outfits varied equally as much.

As they stood facing the seireitei the tallest of them stepped forward and turned to face his comrades. He was ranked number 1 in the order, Ignotus Letum. He spoke to the others "We stand at the edge of war. Today we battle for our existence. I personally have nothing against the seireitei but I believe we have no other options." They all looked at the towering man before them with a somber expression on his face wearing a bloodstained captain's haori. "But as much as I do not wish for this war…" His face cracked into a smile worthy of Kenpachi "….I do love a good fight!" As he turned to face the seireitei you could clearly see the number 11 on his back.


	9. Impact!

**Chapter 9: Impact!**

It was noon. Eve and Coal were standing on Sokyoku Hill overlooking the seireitei. The defenses were in place. They had left Hisage in command of the 9th squad. It was for the best since Eve did not know them or their abilities very well.

"How do you think they are going to enter?" Eve asked mostly to break the silence.

"They probably will rush one of the gates and take control of it. That is the only way I could see them getting any use out of their hollows. Otherwise we can destroy their hollows in the bottle neck that is the gate." Coal answered.

"If they push their full force at one of the gates we won't be able to hold that gate." Eve said frowning.

"Yes but their only way of bringing hollows into Soul Society is through a Senkaimon gate they created out near the outskirts of Rukongai. They will have to move them a long way to get them into the seireitei. That will not be easy and will require several of them to make sure the hollows go where they want." Coal answered. "This in itself is an advantage."

"Well I suppose that's true." Eve responded "It probably won't be long before they attack. I wish we had more time to just stand here and do nothing."

"It's funny how as soon as there isn't time to relax you don't feel like doing anything else." Coal said with sigh.

Eve smiled and opened her mouth to speak but what she was about to say Coal would never know. At that moment one of the gates opened. Claude with was lifting the gate in his resurreccion form. Captains Komamura and Kurotsuchi stood waiting on the inside of the gate.

Through it stepped 4 people including Claude who dropped the gate after he was inside. Claude returned to his normal form and stood next to Sean. The third member was a girl with layered brown hair a little past her shoulders and green eyes. She was smiling with an air of excitement about her. She wore a normal shinigami uniform and was around 5'7" in height. She was dwarfed by the man next to her. He was a towering 6'8" though this did not look as impressive in the presence of Captain Komamura. His hair was black and straggly. His brown eyes were sharp and alert. He was built muscularly. He wore only the lower half of a shinigami uniform. He wore no shirt at all revealing a body that had clearly seen plenty of combat. But his most distinctive feature was the blood stained captain's haori he wore. It was torn around the sleeves so they only went a few inches beyond his shoulders. He wore smile that made you want to run for your life.

Sajin spoke first" Who are you that would dare wear a captain's haori?" There was a bit of outrage in his voice.

Ignotus introduced himself without his smile wavering "I am Ignotus Letum, I am the leader of The Order of the Black Mask." He then casually waved his hand to his comrades and they left the scene immediately.

Sajin yelled to his squad to stop them but they were quickly out maneuvered by the order members. Iba was about to lead a squad in pursuit when his path was block by Ignotus. Ignotus spoke casually "If you want a fight I'm sure I will suffice."

Iba backed off quickly turning to his captain for instructions. Sajin supplied them quickly "Captain Kurotsuchi and myself will deal with him pursue them as soon as you get an opening." Mayuri did not look particularly thrilled with this plan but did not argue.

"Well then what are the names of my opponents?" Ignotus asked.

"I am Komamura Sajin, captain of the 7th squad." Sajin supplied drawing his sword.

"I am Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the 12th squad." Mayuri answered drawing his blade as well.

Ignotus yelled "Then let's begin!" rushing forward with surprising speed drawing his own sword. He met Sajin head on as Mayuri stepped back out of the way. The strength behind his blade was astonishing even to Sajin.

Lieutenants Iba and Nemu each took a team and pursued the other 3 order members, unaware that they were not alone in their pursuit. Eve and Coal were attempting to cut them off. Eve looked worried as they headed toward their opponents, and Coal knew why. He had recognized the reiatsu of the 3 in the group as well.

The remaining members of the 7th and 12th squads could do nothing but watch their captains duel with the monstrous Ignotus. He was holding his own despite being outnumbered. Neither side had landed a hit yet. Mayuri had released his sword already but he needed to cut his opponent for it to be any good. Ignotus suddenly said with a smile "This is getting interesting. I think it is about time I stopped messing around." As he rushed forward again his blade suddenly changed. It turned into a long strait staff. The staff was the color of steel with no decorations at all save the last inch of each end being black. He met Sajin's massive sword and simply pivoted his staff around the sword to smack Sajin in the face. As he did Mayuri came from behind believing he had found his opening at last. Ignotus slid his staff backwards under his left arm and into Mayuri's stomach. The force of this was enough to send Mayuri back several feet. Sajin's senses returned just in time to get the wind knock out of him by Ignotus shoving the staff into his chest. This attack had a lot more force behind it than the attack that hit Mayuri and Sajin was thrown into a wall 40 feet away.

Ignotus stood calmly holding his staff upright in his right hand while he waited for his opponents to recover. It could now clearly be seen that his staff was only a little shorter than him. Sajin spoke to ignotus once he had separated himself from the wall "I suppose that is your release state."

"Indeed it is." Ignotus answered.

"You released it without calling it." Sajin commented "That's unusual…"

"That's true but I'm quite unusual." Ignotus smiled "But I don't particularly feel like explaining right now."

"Fine by me" Sajin answered "I think it's time to end this." Sajin gathered his energy and yelled "Bankai!"

A fair distance away from the battle Sean and his team came to a stop suddenly. Standing in their way were Coal and Eve. "Well this is quite the reunion." Sean said with a frustrated sneer "The five lowest ranked members together again."

"Indeed it has been some time since all five of us were in one place." Coal answered calmly "though I'd say being the five **lowest** ranked members makes it a bit anti-climactic."

"Don't worry I know how to make it bit more exciting." The girl next to Sean had spoken.

"I think I know what you're thinking Elle." Coal said drawing his sword.

Elle's shunpo was like lighting. Coal blocked her attack from behind despite her speed. He spoke to her calmly" Hmmmm, with all that training Eve did I think you are amazingly still the same speed as her."

Elle answered as if she were reluctantly yielding after a long argument "Then you two have become as strong as Sean said." She back away. Elle now stood on one side of Eve and Coal while Sean and Claude stood on the other. Elle yelled to Sean and Claude "You two get moving I'll handle this."

"You're not strong enough to take both of them." Sean immediately protested.

"Coal will follow you two anyways." Elle answered "Eve won't let him interfere." Eve and Elle's eyes were locked to each other's. The two girls kind of looked alike to tell the truth.

Coal sighed deeply. "So shall we begin this chase anew" he said to Sean like a kid asking if his friend wanted to play another round of 'hide and go seek'.

Sean and Claude looked at each other for a moment and then rocketed past Coal. Coal disappeared into shunpo with the words "I'll take that as a yes."

Eve and Elle now stood alone facing each other. Eve spoke first "I heard you're now stronger Sean."

Elle answered "I heard I'm not the only one." The air was tense.

"There isn't any way out of this, is there? We really have to fight each other." Eve said attempting to hold back the confusing mixture of sadness and excitement.

"We have chosen two different sides of the same war. There is nothing else to it I think." Elle answered doing everything in her power to push down the same annoying mess of emotions.

It came in a flash. Simultaneously both girls shot at each other, each leaving a single tear behind them.

Their speeds really were equal. Their swordsmanship seemed perfectly matched. Neither could land a hit. Their blades danced in the sunlight. They stopped for moment seemingly assessing what had happened. They were both smiling a little. They both then turned to look at Lieutenant Iba and his pursuit team who had stopped for a moment to marvel at the speed of the combatants. Eve and Elle looked at the intruders for a second before returning to their high speed combat. Iba could only tell vaguely what was going on. The two combatants were fast enough that he couldn't clearly see what was happening. He could only tell where they were and sometimes he couldn't even see that. Most of his squad was unable to comprehend what was going on at all. That's when an even more unnerving thought hit him: They weren't even fighting seriously yet. Neither of them had called their black mask or released their swords.

Mean while Coal was in pursuit of Sean and Claude. Sean could lose Coal but it would require leaving Claude behind. Instead the two had taken to firing attacks back at Coal at random. It didn't do much good to lose Coal but it kept Coal from getting too close. Sean knew they didn't have to keep it up for long. They were nearly to their destination. Sean could see their destination now. He could see the seireitei's senkaimon gates. They had made it.

They landed in the court yard facing the gates. Sean pulled out the tags Alice had given him. Claude turned to face Coal quickly and met him head on. Sean knew he had to complete his task while Claude held Coal at bay. Sean quickly placed four tags on the arch of each gate then he pulled back as they activated.

Coal watched in awe. He now knew what they were doing. They were taking control of the senkaimon gates. This toppled most of their strategy since they had always assumed the hollows would be funneled through one of the four gates on the outer wall. They had failed to anticipate anything like this. He had to stop this before the gates' conversion was complete.

"It's too late Coal. You won't be able to break through the two of us in time to stop it." Sean said not completely certain.

"Well there's only one way to find out." Coal answered "_Vallo Obvium Totus __**Atrum Custos**_ (Defend Against All **Dark Guardian**)."

Back at the gate they had entered through Ignotus felt the reiatsu of the plan taking effect. He had been simply biding his time while waiting for this moment. It was time for him to go. He dodged Komamura's Giant's huge sword. He launched forward and slammed his staff into the giant's leg as he rushed past it. The giant was thrown off balance and fell to the ground. Ignotus headed off towards the senkaimon gates at full speed relying on the confusion to cover his escape.

Eve had noticed the reiatsu as well but she was not currently in a position to investigate. Her battle with Elle would take some time to complete. They were standing facing each other both a little tired despite neither having more than a light cuts. Both of their swords remained sealed. Eve knew that she should get on with the battle and release her sword but at the same time she didn't really want to fight Elle at all. Elle broke the silence "I fear we will have to finish this another time. There is somewhere I need to be." She glanced in the direction of the senkaimon gates.

"What makes you think I'll let you go?" Eve answered hotly.

"Do you remember the night you and Coal left?" Elle answered with a sly smile.

"So you're calling in the favor?" Eve said a little relieved that she might be able to avoid this battle for a while longer. "This will make us even then. You let me go and I've let you go."

"That's the idea." Elle answered.

Eve pretended to think for a second though she had already made her decision. "Deal but I'm following you if you are headed towards that reiatsu that appeared out of nowhere awhile ago."

Elle said "Agreed but I get a minute head start." Upon finishing her sentence she shot off toward the gates.

Coal fired a Byakurai (White Lightning) kido at one of the tags but was blocked by Claude's cero. Coal was forced once more focus on Sean who had barely been giving him time to breathe between attacks. Sean kept Coal from getting a decent shot at the tags and in the rare case that he did get off a shot Claude would block it. Coal didn't know how long he had to stop the conversion but he knew he was running out of time. That's when the reiatsu coming from the gates suddenly changed. Coal realized immediately that it was over. The gate was in the final stage of its conversion and the reiatsu emanating from the gate would protect the tags from destruction.

"So you've realized what happened." Sean said having observed the fact that Coal stopped moving.

"I can no longer prevent the conversion of the senkaimon gates." Coal said with barely a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Now all that is left is for us to do is to wait." Sean said lightly.

"I could still try to kill you before the other order members come through those gates." Coal calmly.

Sean failed to hide his alarm. He backed away a little as he raised his sword in preparation for Coal's attack. The attack never came. The spot where Coal was standing exploded as Ignotus' staff hit the ground. Coal now stood on the roof opposite the gates having barely used shunpo in time.

"Here's an idea" Ignotus said with a smirk on his face "We all wait here calmly and I don't kill you, Coal."

"Why do you want to wait?" Coal asked confused. It would clearly be to their advantage to deal with him now while he was alone.

"I like to see my opponents face to face before fighting them for real. Similarly I would like to see the seireitei face to face before this war really starts." Ignotus said without his smirk wavering.

Coal stood staring at the strange man who stood before him. He wasn't sure whether Ignotus was honorable or simply crazy but Coal couldn't help but admire him for it.

There was a sudden rush of reiatsu and Coal knew the gate's conversion was complete. Elle suddenly appeared in the court yard. "Ha, just in time." She said happily. Then they came. From within the gates stepped 5 more people. The order stood in its entirety before Coal. They calmly lined up with Ignotus in the center.

"So this is it." Coal said facing them defiantly. He stood against the 9 order members and who knows how many hollows hidden within the gates. He could see the hollows waiting just inside the gates, their black masks gleaming.

"You can still change sides if you want." Alice said with a truly disturbing smile.

"I chose my side and I don't regret it." Coal said unwavering. There was a rush of shunpo behind him.

"Well it looks like we can finally really get this party started." Ignotus said with a grin.

Coal no longer stood alone on that roof. 8 other people wearing captain's haori had joined him. Neither Captain Commander Yamamoto nor Captain Unohana was there. Yoruichi stood in Soifon's place. Eve stood on the roof with the 9 captains as well though a little farther back. Behind them on various rooftops were most of the 13 protection squads.

Alice smiled "But before we begin I would like us to do one quick thing."

Coal stared at her confused. "Really what's that?" he asked wondering if he wanted to know the answer.


	10. Introductions

**Chapter 10: Introductions**

"First we have introductions." Alice said cheerily. All of the order members and captains stood in stunned silence staring at her.

"What?! That's insane." Elle answered in confusion. The look Alice gave her however kept her mouth from further objecting.

Most of the captains look to Coal hoping he could provide some sort of explanation but Coal looked just as bewildered as they did. Alice spoke again "I would like to know who I'm fighting since half of you might be dead before I can see you again. Plus this way the author of this fan fiction can simply explain what all of us order members look like in one go in order to save time later." She looked annoyed about having to explain something that was clearly obvious to her.

Coal recovered from the confusion first "I'm not sure what she is talking about but just humor her. Trust me it will all be over faster that way." The captains reluctantly consented.

"We'll start at the left of each of our lines and go back and forth between our two sides." Alice said happily "Sean you start."

Sean was 5'8" and of average build. He wore a leather jacket and black jeans. He had short wavy brown hair. His sword was attached to his belt and was nothing special in length, thickness, or appearance. He looked a little put off by having to do this. "What should I say?"

Alice looked at him annoyed "You're name, rank, and maybe something interesting about yourself. Haven't you ever done this kind of thing before?!"

The answer was no but Sean decided to keep this to himself. "I'm Sean, ranked 8th in The Order of the Black Mask. I'm a Vizard, meaning I'm a shinigami who has gained hollow powers." There were many exchanges of glances among the captains at this last part.

Captain Hitsugaya was on the far left of the line of captains. He spoke coldly "I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the 10th squad. I'm the youngest shinigami to ever become a captain."

Claude was next in line. He was 6'0" tall. He was built a bit broader than Sean. He wore a sleeveless white jacket zipped up to his neck and white pants. He wore what looked like a black crown with a white edge. His eyes were cold and piercing. His sword hung at his side and was a shade thicker than a normal katana. "I'm Claude, ranked 9th in The Order of the Black Mask. I'm an arrancar as I'm sure you have all been informed."

Next to Captain Hitsugaya was Captain Kuchiki. "I am Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of 6th squad. I teach a calligraphy class. I also think this is ridiculous." Alice gave him a stare that would make most men at least look wary but Byakuya's expression remained unchanged.

A very odd looking person stood on Claude's right. He was 5'7" and was thin but tone. His skin was pale, almost sickly. He wore a black vest that looked like it might be bullet proof over a plain white t-shirt. He wore blue jeans and leather gloves that didn't cover his fingers. He also appeared to have no sword or other weapon of any kind on his person. But easily his most dominant feature was his face or rather your inability to see it. His entire face was obscured by a black mask. It covered his entire face from chin to his forehead were it met his wild amber hair. The mask seemed to be some sort of demon. It had 2 horns coming from his forehead and a grin that included fangs. The mask seemed to fit his face very tightly. The real shock however came when he spoke. "I'm Sceleratus…" The mask mouth had opened along with his own mouth. The mask flexed along with his face. The mask appeared to be like a second skin on top of his face. "….I'm ranked 6th in The Order of the Black Mask. I personally hold no grudge against the seireitei but where my comrades go I shall follow."

Captain Kurotsuchi went next "I'm Kurotsuchi Mayuri, captain of the 12th squad. I would like one of you to become a test subject so I can further understand this 'Oath of Chaos.' Are there any of you who would like to volunteer?" He was answered with silence. "Fine, I'll just have to _convince_ one of you." He answered with a sneer.

Alice was next. She was 5'0" in height. She had strait blonde hair nearly to her waist. She looked as if she might be just barely 15 if that. She wore a kimono that only reached just past her knees. It was bright blue with white flowers on it. It had a green sash which also held her Zanpakto which looked relatively normal. She seemed very cheerful. "I'm Alice and I'm ranked 2nd in The Order of the Black Mask. My favorite treat is cotton candy." The captains stare at the little girl bewildered. They exchanged looks all silently thinking to themselves the same thing: She was ranked 2nd?!

Captain Komamura was still trying to make sense of Alice being the second strongest when he suddenly realized it was his turn. "I am Komamura Sajin, Captain of the 7th squad. I like dogs."

Ignotus himself was next. He was massive standing at 6'8" and was built muscularly. He wore the pants from a shinigami robe but no shirt at all. He wore a blood stained captain's haori with the number 11 on the back. His body was scarred in many places. His hair was black and straggly. He looked wild and had an air of death around him. His sword hung at his side and seemed a little short for his height. He looked quite bored at the moment. "I'm Ignotus Letum, ranked 1st in the order. I'm the creator of the Oath of Chaos and have been with the order since its founding."

Coal was next. "I'm Coal, Captain of the 9th squad. For the record I have no wish to fight any of you but you have left me no other choice." His eyes were unwavering and determined.

On Ignotus' right was a man wearing a black suit. He was 5'10" tall and his black hair was sleeked back. He was smiling politely and looked calm and collected. He looked almost sophisticated but the effect was to some degree ruined by the huge scythe on his back. "You may call me Grim. I am ranked 5th in The Order of the Black Mask. I'm one of the few surviving members of the original order. I remember why this order was formed and fully intend to make the seireitei pay." He said it with great conviction in his voice. As he finished he looked at Coal with a cold stare.

Captain Kyoraku was next. "I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th squad. And I have to wonder if this war is really necessary. But going off the looks you are all giving me right now I would guess you are quite determined. Oh well, I guess we have no choice but I would prefer settle this over a bottle of sake."

Next to Grim was a man standing 5'11". He was wearing a brown jacket over a white shirt as well as blue jeans. All of his clothes were worn and even torn in some places. He had a mess of sandy brown hair. He looked wild in stark contrast to Grim and wore a broad grin. His sword hung off his belt to his side. "I'm Santri, ranked 3rd in the order. I can't decide what to say about myself but I look forward to fighting and killing many of you." This caused some stir in the ranks behind the captains.

"I'm Ukitake Jushiro, captain of the 13th squad. I agree with Captain Kyoraku about this war but it is becoming painfully apparent that there will be no peaceful solution to this." Captain Ukitake said taking his turn.

Standing to the right of Santri was a girl standing 5'5". She had flowing blue hair with silver highlights to halfway down her back. She wore strait black pants with blue stripes down the sides. Her top was similar to a shinigami uniform with the colors reversed. She had a blue sash tied around her waist that was tied in a small bow on one hip opposite her sword. "I'm Nicole, ranked 4th in the order. I'm sometimes called the blue blur." She spoke lightly with a bit of elegance in her voice.

Yoruichi was next. "I'm Shihoin Yoruichi, I'm not the captain of squad 2. I'm filling in for a friend who was injured in an earlier scrimmage." She looked Sceleratus whose grin seemed to have broadened.

To the far right was Elle. She was 5'7" and her brown layer hair reached a little past her shoulders. She wore a normal shinigami uniform. She had striking green eyes and a few cuts from her recent encounter with Eve. "I'm Elle, ranked 7th in the order. I like exploration and freedom."

At long last they had reached Captain Zaraki who was sitting down because he got bored of standing. He stood up and said "I am Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of the 11th squad. Now can we get to fighting already?" Many of them looked at Kenpachi in apprehension. Ignotus smiled and a wild look entered his eyes. The two sides tensed in preparation as if Kenpachi's words had awakened them. Many hands moved slowly towards their swords but no one drew.

Coal asked "Satisfied Alice?"

"I guess that's good enough." Alice answered.

Coal gave a yell "One last thing to the captains of the seireitei; ignotus is the source of the Oath of Chaos. The hollows, unlike the order members, are reliant on the source of the chaotic energies. This means if we can kill ignotus the hollows will return to normal, decreasing their power and removing there affinity to only attack our side. This will turn the battle greatly in our favor."

Shunsui responded "So the earlier we defeat Ignotus the better."

"Well then" Ignotus said his smile becoming even more menacing "Let's begin!"


	11. Collision

**Chapter 11: Collision**

Everything happened in a flash. The seal on the gates that was keeping the hollows back disintegrated. The protection squads of the seireitei moved to block the escape of any hollows from the area. The captains moved to confront the order members as the hollows rushed from the gates. The order members were lost in the swarm of black masked hollows. The squads engaged the hollows from all sides. The war had begun.

Battles broke out everywhere. Ignotus exploded forward, his sword already change into a staff, and met Coal head on. The force of his attack caused Coal to nearly slide off the roof despite having blocked the attack. Toshiro and Sajin came to Coal's aid. Ignotus parried Toshiro's attack throwing him towards Coal. Ignotus quickly turned and shoved the tip of his staff into Sajin as Coal Jumped over Toshiro to attack again. Ignotus blocked Coal's attack and pushed him back. He quickly smacked Sajin across the face without even looking before Sajin could muster another attack. Toshiro and Coal now Came at him together but he simply blocked them both by shoving his staff, held in front of him horizontally, forward throwing both Coal and Toshiro a little of balance. He followed this with a quick low sweep sending both captains to the ground. Sajin came again forcing him to turn and block the attack. Ignotus quickly pushed Sajin back and moved out of the way of Coal's Byakurai (white lightning). Ignotus' smile seemed to be getting more sinister with each attack.

Yoruichi was attempting to track down Sceleratus in the chaos with little success. The Black masked hollows blocked her way constantly. Suddenly Yoruichi saw an order member in the midst of the 6th squad but it wasn't her target. She chose not to intervene and continued her search.

In the middle of the bulk of the 6th squad Renji was dueling with Elle. Renji swung his blade with a yell "_Hoero __**Zabimaru **_(Howl **Snake Tail**)" causing his sword to whip out at Elle. Elle jumped his blade and charged forward. Another 6th squad member moved to block her way. Elle yelled "_Offendo __**Magnificus Fulgur **_(Strike **Magnificent Lightning**)" Her sword gained glowing blue marks that looked like lightning striking from the back of her blade to the sharp edge. She ducked her opponent's hi attack lightly cutting his left leg as she did. His leg suddenly kicked out from under him strangely and he fell to one knee. As Elle rose up on the outside of his right side she cut him on his right forearm. His arm then fidgeted suddenly and his hand shook and opened oddly causing him to drop his blade. As she moved past him towards Renji she slashed her sword through his neck viciously. There was no doubt that the wound was fatal. Renji quickly brought his fanged whip down at Elle causing her to dodge away from the quickly dying man. Renji realized he could not hope to match her speed. Suddenly Eve appeared from nowhere and met Elle from the side pushing Elle of the building. The two fell into the midst of a group of Hollows who ignored them completely while charging the 6th squad.

Claude stood near the gates vaguely directing the hollows in their assault. He had the ability to command the hollows despite the fact that they lost most of their minds when given the black mask. This was most likely due to the fact that he was not only an arrancar but also an order member but even he didn't know for sure. It was still difficult to command them since they tended to be attracted to those with high spirit pressure. Two large groups of hollows had formed. One was chasing Kenpachi who was attempting to escape so he could seek a fight with a stronger opponent and one surrounding Ukitake and Kyoraku who were fighting back to back in the middle of the court yard. As he watched he saw Komamura fly of the building the captains were originally standing on. It seemed Ignotus was doing well.

Kenpachi had finally temporarily lost the hollows. Suddenly his wish for a true opponent was granted. Santri exploded from a group of shinigami with a large blood stained double headed battle axe. He brought it down with tremendous force at Kenpachi. Kenpachi blocked but strained noticeably. "It's about time!" Kenpachi cried joyously.

Santri responded "Hmmm. You seem like you will actually be interesting to kill." Kenpachi's reiatsu strengthened suddenly forcing Santri back. The duel began. Santri blocked his opponent's furious attacks and countered with a forceful horizontal swing, his crazed eyes red as the blood on his axe. Kenpachi dodged back and came at him again Santri dodged Kenpachi's vertical slash and retaliated with a confusing stab. What was confusing about it was Kenpachi was stabbed in his lower left chest with a long rapier that had somehow replaced Santri's axe. Santri quickly withdrew his rapier to block Kenpachi's counter attack. Santri was surprised by how tough it was to stab Kenpachi despite the fact that he was using a piercing weapon. They continued to take turns attacking and blocking. Kenpachi was furthered surprised by the sudden change in Santri's stance. Santri had switched to relying on many more fast attacks over a few powerful ones. Kenpachi smiled at finding such an interesting opponent.

Amidst a group hollows some distance away from the main battle Byakuya said "_Chire __**Senbonzakura**_(Scatter **Thousand Cherry Blossoms**)" He was fighting Grim but the fight had become exceedingly difficult due to the hollows interference. He now ripped the hollows all around him to shreds with his zanpakto while advancing on Grim. Grim smiled and said "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (release)". His mask looked like he was wearing skull that had been mostly painted black so only a little of a worn off-white color remained. It lacked a bottom jaw but covered his hair. Byakuya raised his hand unfazed and said "Way of Destruction 33 Sokatsui (Blue Fire, Crash Down)". Grim responded with "Way of Chaos 15 Ignis Spherae (Fire sphere)." The kidos collided resulting in a stalemate. Grim rushed forth from the explosion his scythe ready. His attack was blocked by_**Senbonzakura**_. He pulled back quickly as Byakuya's cherry blossoms counter-attacked. Grim was quickly realizing that Byakuya was a bad match for him. The hollows rushed forward forcing Byakuya to withdraw his sword to finish the last of the nearby hollows. Grim shot forward knowing he might not get another chance. He rushed Byakuya. Byakuya cried "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (White Lightning)" but Grim dodged the kido. Grim slashed at Byakuya who dodged backward causing the cut to be relatively shallow. Grim dodged back as Byakuya's flower petals swirled around their master. Grim smiled deviously. Byakuya immediately realized why. "Whenever your zanpakto cuts someone it causes their reiatsu leaks out that cut far quicker than normal."

"That's right." Grim said with a smirk "I'm impressed you figured it out so quickly."

"In time I would lose all my reiatsu due to this relatively light cut. An impressive ability…" Byakuya said as calm as ever "…but pointless since I will finish the battle to quick for it to matter." Byakuya's sword reformed and he turned it upside down and dropped it. "Bankai." His _**Senbonzakura **__Kageyoshi_(Vibrant Display of a **Thousand Cherry Blossoms**) revealed itself as two long rows of blades. Byakuya calmly said "_Chire_" and the blades exploded into countless cherry blossoms. Grim was at a loss for words. He dodged backwards as the petals rushed at him. That's when Sceleratus jumped from a nearby building landing in front of him and yelled "Way of Chaos 41 Undulati-infernus (Undulating Inferno)" A series of curved wall-like waves of chaos fire exploded forward from him. Each wave got stronger. Byakuya's Bankai was kept at bay by the first two waves, came to a halt at the third and was overpowered by the fourth. Byakuya had to quickly dodge away to avoid the fifth and sixth waves. The strength of the kido was astounding, though its strength clearly dropped dramatically with range. The situation had quickly turned against Byakuya. Sceleratus spoke to Grim "You were lucky I was here Grim. I doubt you could have avoided that for very long."

"I'm a bad match up against this guy. He is good at fighting at a distance…" Grim answered "however I still managed to land one decent hit."

"Well then, as long as he is kept at bay he will lose in the long run." Sceleratus thought over aloud. He thought to himself for another moment before saying "You go on and hunt someone you're better equipped for. I'll finish this guy up. It shouldn't be a problem since you already cut him and I'm far better equipped to deal with his attacks. I would say you should hang around but you know I don't work well with others."

Grim smirked "Suits me fine but don't let your guard down on this guy." Grim shot away back towards the chaos of the main battle ground.

Sceleratus' mask smiled as he faced Byakuya. "So Captain Kuchiki shall we duel."

Alice sat on top of one of the senkaimon gates overseeing the huge battle. Ignotus appeared next to her having lost his opponents amongst the hollows and being too lazy to find them. "How is the battle progressing?" Ignotus asked Alice.

"We are pushing them back. Even the captains seem to be having problems fighting us." Alice said happily "What did you make of them?"

"It's as we expected. I feel confident that I can defeat two captains, if necessary depending on the captains quite possibly 3, perhaps even 4." Ignotus answered calmly. "What are the others doing?"

"Things are looking good indeed. I've been here keeping control over how many hollows are let out of the gates. Claude is controlling where they go. Sean and Nicole are insuring no one can get close to Claude. I think Sceleratus and Santri are fighting captains. Elle I suspect is fighting Eve. Grim is currently fighting regular shinigami I believe. However the correct term may be 'reaping' rather than 'fighting'." Alice listed off cheerfully.

"Hmmm. It sounds like things are going well indeed." Ignotus said smiling "I'll return to the battle field now."

"Do you really think it is wise for you to be on the front lines?" Alice asked "Coal informed them about the weakness in the black masked hollows."

"I think it will be fine. Killing me would be extremely difficult anyways." Ignotus said with a smile. "But if you insist I'll stand back and survey the fight for a bit."

Farther in, amongst the buildings, Santri and Kenpachi were still going at it. Santri's weapon had changed several times but currently was a rapier. As the two collided once more Santri suddenly sensed another powerful spirit pressure. Captain Hitsugaya had appeared on the scene. Santri's situation suddenly looked far more difficult.

Closer to the senkaimon gates Shunsui was getting worried. "Jushiro, I think we need to pull back so our forces can regroup." Shunsui yelled to his old friend.

"I agree but in order to do that we would need something powerful enough to temporarily keep all these hollows at bay." Captain Ukitake yelled back "I think someone will have to use Bankai."

A yell came from behind them "I will oblige then." Sajin slammed a few more hollows aside before yelling "Bankai". _Kokujo Tengen Myo'o _(Vidyaraja of Kalasutra's Heavenly Punishment) emerged as a giant samurai. With a sweep of his sword he killed dozens of hollows as well as reducing a building to rubble.

Ukitaki gave the order for the squads to begin moving the wounded as fast as possible while the attack became lighter due to Komamura's distraction. Shunsui continued to provide support for Komamura. However, even with Komamura's bankai it didn't seem to be enough to keep so many hollows at bay. Suddenly there was an explosion of yellow reiatsu blasting the black masked monsters back. The force of the reiatsu also forced Komamura's bankai down on one knee. Kenpachi had appeared on the main battlefield once more.

"Excellent timing Captain Zaraki." Shunsui yelled.

"I'm only here because Captain Hitsugaya scared off by prey. My opponent retreated into the hollows so I decided to remove them." Kenpachi answered looking annoyed.

Ignotus watched from the top of the senkaimon gate. He turned to Alice "Why have you lessened the number of hollows coming out of the gates?"

"Because their squads are retreating for the moment and I don't want to waste hollows." She answered "Plus we have succeeded in separating 5 captains from their squads. Now would be a good time to deal with them."

An evil smile spread across Ignotus' face and he disappeared into shunpo. He reappeared next to Sean who was looking at Komamura's giant across the courtyard. Sean spoke "I suppose we should fight them now, while there are no other shinigami to interfere?"

"That's the idea." Ignotus said smirking.

Santri appeared next to them. "This fight won't be easy but I think we can manage." He said smiling "It certainly is better than the situation I just left."

Suddenly from a building to their left exploded Mayuri's bankai, _Konjiki__** Ashisogi Jizo **_(Golden **Leg-Cutting Jizo**). The monster charged the three order members. Ignotus yelled to his comrades "Get back I don't want to accidentally hurt you. "

Santri obeyed immediately. Sean looked confused but followed suit. As Ignotus charged the monster Sean turned to Santri with a confused look that asked for an explanation. "He is going to use his Shikai's ability." Santri said simply with an evil grin.

Ignotus Jumped into the air, his deep red reiatsu visibly swirling around him, toward the massive _Konjiki __**Ashisogi Jizo**_. His staff split half way down the shaft. He pulled the two halves apart revealing two strait swords hidden within his staff. He now held two weapons each half staff and half sword. He crossed his arms and when he was only a few feet from the golden baby head he swung both of them with incredible force. Suddenly a large portion of the monster's head was completely shredded. Even the parts that remained were cut badly. As Ignotus landed the monster collapsed and faded from existence. He calmly recombined his weapons into a staff.

Mayuri, who had watched the entire thing, looked quite surprised. He quickly joined the other captains. "That is interesting. It seems the order's highest ranked member is quite powerful indeed." Mayuri mused. The other captains looked at him awaiting an explanation. Mayuri proceeded to explain "There was no reiatsu in the air that destroyed my bankai. He produced that attack with sheer force alone. That is why it had such a short range and got weaker rapidly as it got farther away from him. The good news is there seems to be some sort of limit on that form's use. I noticed earlier that some sort of energy goes down his staff whenever he manages to land an attack with those black tips." The other captains looked at him surprised about the amount of information he had gathered so quickly.

"I don't particularly care how it works." Kenpachi said "It's time to fight."

"I disagree." Toshiro said "I think it is time to retreat." Toshiro was referring to the fact that even though only 3 order members had stepped forward there were in fact 6 in sight. Though Claude and Nicole had not yet moved from their position in front of the gates, there was no apparent reason they couldn't do so. The same went for Alice sitting atop one of the gates. Amongst these 6 were the top 4 order members.

"I see your point Captain Hitsugaya. Let's pull back for now." Shunsui said in agreement. The captains pulled back, though Kenpachi did so reluctantly.

"Should we chase them?" Sean asked Ignotus.

Ignotus answered "We'll let them go for now. We shouldn't leave the gates too vulnerable so early in the game."

"I know that we'll do better using strategy but I still prefer the good old 'kill like crazy' method to warfare." Santri said with a sigh.

"Soon enough my enthusiastic friend, you'll get your chance soon enough." Ignotus answered with a small smile.

Far away in a stadium that was almost never used Eve and Elle stood facing each other. Eve spoke first "Is there a reason you led me all the way out here to fight?"

"I wanted to be sure that we weren't disturbed." Elle answered.

"Well shall we get started then?" Eve asked.

"I suppose we shall." Elle answered.

Simultaneously, in another remote sector of the seireitei, Byakuya was panting. Sceleratus had been keeping his distance and using kido to keep Byakuya at bay. The cut Grim had left him with was starting to get to him. Sceleratus had been playing defensively waiting for his reiatsu to drop. Things were looking bad when Yoruichi suddenly appeared on the field. She turned to Byakuya and immediately said "He's mine Byakuya leave the rest to me."

"Why should I leave this to you?" Byakuya asked emotionlessly.

"I wish to restore the pride of the Onmitsukido (Stealth Force). You should understand a matter of pride." Yoruichi answered. Her eyes then sharpened "Also he hurt a friend of mine." She said more darkly.

Byakuya stood silent for a moment before saying "Try not to get killed he is a high level kido user." He then left the battle field without another word.

Yoruichi and Sceleratus prepared themselves for battle as Elle and Eve did the same far away. The real fight was about to start.


	12. A Cat and a Demon

**Chapter 12: A Cat and a Demon**

Note from the author: Eve and Elle are fighting at the same time as Yoruichi and Sceleratus but I am doing the ladder fight first.

"You said you were here in a friend's stead." Sceleratus said nonchalantly to Yoruichi "I suppose she is the woman I fought on the outskirts of roukongai."

"Yes." Yoruichi said simply.

"So you are here to do what she could not." Sceleratus continued in a manner befitting someone speculating on whether it would rain.

"Yes." Yoruichi answered again.

"Well I suppose we should begin then." Sceleratus said readying himself.

Yoruichi took no stance but simply stood with her arms crossed facing him.

Sceleratus looked confused "Well are you going to fight me or…" In an instant Yoruichi was behind him. He barely blocked her kick. He quickly recovered however and countered with his left hand. His attack was in vain however since Yoruichi was already behind him again. He ducked her high kick and quickly preformed a low sweep with his leg. Yoruichi again was gone. Sceleratus quickly shoved his other foot backwards and upwards. Yoruichi wove left making it a glancing hit to no consequence. Yoruichi continued to easily out match Sceleratus in speed however Sceleratus continued to block or dodge all of her attacks, though he seemed to escape more narrowly each time. Finally Yoruichi managed to shove her hand into his chest causing him to fly backwards. Yoruichi paused in surprise. She had felt something that most definitely wasn't skin beneath his shirt.

Sceleratus staggered to his feet. "You are even faster than the other girl. I think a shade stronger to." Sceleratus said panting a little "You are easily my superior in hand to hand combat."

Yoruichi asked "What is beneath your shirt? I felt something that wasn't skin."

"Oh that, I suppose I could show you." Sceleratus said before he dropped his vest to the ground. He then removed his shirt. A very odd sight greeted Yoruichi. The first thing that was odd about it was the fact that he still had his soul chain. This was even stranger due to the black mark that surrounded it. The mark was a large circle with three fiery spikes coming of it. It was like someone had lit the kido corps' symbol on fire. To increase the strangeness of the site was the fact that the mark was moving. The fire looked as if it was actually burning. The mark was completed by a large VI(Roman numeral 6) in the center of it, on top of his soul chain. The mark reached nearly the width of his shoulders. Sceleratus smiled at the surprised look on Yoruichi's face. He looked truly eerie between his chest and his black mask. He put the vest back on leaving his shirt lying on the ground. "I imagine you have a few questions about now." Sceleratus said seemingly greatly enjoying Yoruichi's shock.

Yoruichi took another moment to regain her composure. She then asked "Why do you still have a soul chain?" choosing to address it while attempting to make sense out of the mark.

"I was never given a soul burial." Sceleratus said calmly.

"But you're in soul society." Yoruichi protested still considering the mark which she could only assume was the 'Oath of Chaos' Coal had referred to.

Sceleratus sighed a little and began "Maybe it is for the best that I start at the beginning. You see I died when I was just a 9 years old. I wasn't a very lucky boy. Within a few hours of dying I encountered an arrancar leading a group of hollows. Suddenly from out of nowhere she came, the girl that would forever change my destiny, Alice. She appeared wearing a black mask. She dispatched the arrancar along with his minions and then paused seeing me. She walked up to me with a look of indecisiveness on her face. She then explained the rules of The Order of the Black Mask. Specifically that they were to kill anyone who saw them release their mask. I stood alarmed knowing I had no chance of escaping her. She then offered me a choice. She told me that I could attempt to join her order instead. She said however that she didn't know what would happen if they attempted to give a soul who wasn't a shinigami, none the less had never had a soul burial, the Oath of Chaos. She said that it hurt intensely for normal shinigami and would most likely hurt even more for me. She then said they would put me to sleep during the ritual but even then it would hurt for days after. She also added it might kill me anyways. She said if I chose to die now she would make it painless for me. I listened and thought. I chose to join the order. She took me to Ignotus and then they put me to sleep. I awoke with an agonizing pain all over my body seemingly originating at my chest. I had awoken due to the intense pain halfway through the ceremony. I'm the only order member to date who has seen any part of the ceremony outside of the original 6 members of the order. My black mask formed as the ceremony ended and I have never been able to remove it" He paused "You look like you need a moment to process all this."

Yoruichi stood at a loss for words but then said "Go ahead and continue your story."

Sceleratus took a deep breath and continued "I was in pain for weeks after the ceremony. I would never be able to remove my mask. Also my mark is always burning like you see it now. All the other order members' marks only burn when they release their mask. On top of that the Oath of Chaos doubles as a seal for me. It prevents my soul chain from deteriorating. Through the intense pain I went through I gained a new life and trained from there on out. I have no zanpakto, I can't use any kido besides chaos kido, and I can't shunpo so I learned hand to hand combat and trained to become the strongest chaos kido user of all. I took a new name as well, Sceleratus, it means cursed or damned. My soul itself was scarred by the Oath of Chaos but yet despite all my bad luck I still exist. Through my trial I have become the strongest of all chaos kido users. Through my pain I have become a little less human. I am the demon of The Order of the Black Mask, Sceleratus, the cursed one." As he finished there was just a hint of pure insanity in his eyes.

Yoruichi stood silently for a moment contemplating all she heard. Finally she spoke "Well then I suppose today I kill a demon."

"You're welcome to try." Sceleratus said preparing himself. Yoruichi was upon him in an instant but he was ready this time. "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis (Repluse)".Yoruichi quickly dodged away from the small explosion but Sceleratus followed quickly with "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". Yoruichi barely managed to avoid the second kido which singed her haori. Sceleratus said simply "Before I did not use any chaos kido because I was feeling you out. From here on out I fight for real."

Yoruichi looked at her singed clothes. She understood if the chaos fire touched your skin you would get burn like marks but the injuries Soifon had sustained seemed too severe to be caused by such fire. This meant his attacks would have to get a lot stronger. She decided it was best to end this quickly. Yoruichi threw her captain's haori aside and focused her kido into her body. Her clothes ripped apart revealing her keisen uniform. Sceleratus stood facing her unfazed. "So you can use shunko as well." Sceleratus mused "It won't do you much good however." Yoruichi rushed forward as Sceleratus gathered his own kido. Yoruichi was about to shove her hand through his chest, thinking she would end it when he said "Way of Chaos 55 Chaos Auroioki (Chaos Aura)". He caught Yoruichi's arm by her wrist. Yoruichi's eyes widened in shock. Sceleratus' entire body was covered in chaos fire. Furthermore this chaos fire seemed denser than normal chaos fire. Yoruichi quickly pulled her arm away and dodged back but chaos fire covered her arm. It faded leaving a stinging pain whenever she moved her arm. She stared at the man completely enveloped by the dark fire. His eye's seemed to glow blue. He looked more like a demon than ever. Yoruichi spoke to her opponent "So this is how you gave Soifon such horrible injuries."

"Yes, this is Chaos Auroioki. It surrounds my body in Chaos fire with triple the potency of regular chaos fire." Sceleratus sounded as if he were on the verge of laughing maniacally "Your shunko I fear is completely outmatched. You see my Chaos Auroioki as a chaos kido has the advantage over normal kido. It destroys the order within the kido causing it to partially cancel itself out. From there it need simply overpower the rest. You are lucky however. If I had touched your bare skin with my Chaos Auroioki for that long you probably wouldn't be able to use that arm right now."

"I see but that alone is not enough to defeat me." Yoruichi said defiantly.

"We'll see." Sceleratus answered undeterred.

Yoruichi launched at Sceleratus, her shunko raging once more. Yoruichi attacked from Sceleratus' left but he blocked it easily. She withdrew her arm as she kicked with her left foot but that too was blocked. Yoruichi was starting to suspect she was underestimating this aural kido. She vanished and struck from behind but he took the blow in stride with barely a hint of reaction. Yoruichi pulled back quickly as he turned to face her. Yoruichi cried "Way of Destruction 33 Sokatsui (Blue Fire ,Crash Down)." But Sceleratus simply answered with "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". Sceleratus' kido overwhelmed Yoruichi's and shot at her though she dodged it easily. The battle paused again as Yoruichi tried to think of what to do.

"Having problems?" Sceleratus asked mockingly.

"You seem rather confident but you won't win." Yoruichi answered.

"I fear I must disagree." Sceleratus said smiling "By now I'm sure you've noticed how much you've been underestimating my Chaos Auroioki."

"Your Chaos Auroioki slows down things that get close to it by some sort of disruption in space. The chaos fire itself then brings the attack to a halt making it harder to land a powerful hit on you." Yoruichi stated "On top of that it also increases the power of other chaos kidos you perform by mixing a bit of the more concentrated aura fire into it. I noticed that your recent Chaos Hasta was stronger than the one you fired earlier."

"You realize all of this and you still believe you can defeat me?" Sceleratus asked trying to hide his shock that she realize it all so quickly.

"Yes" Yoruichi answered simply.

"You are as stubborn as your friend then." Sceleratus answered "You just don't get it. You are at a horrible disadvantage to me. Your hand to hand combat can't win against my Chaos Auroioki. Your kido will be overpowered by mine. Your shunko can do little but lessen the effects of my aura. You don't even carry a zanpakto so you have no other form of attack. You have no advantage except your speed and without a viable form of attack it won't save you. I have little doubt that you are in fact stronger than me but I'm simply the worst possible opponent for you fight."

"I will agree that I seem to be at a disadvantage to you at every turn but it won't stop me from defeating you in the end." Yoruichi answered unwilling to back down.

"Well then let's see you escape this." Sceleratus yelled with more than a hint of madness in his voice "Way of Chaos 46 Phoenix Pulvia (Phoenix Rain)". Wings of chaos fire spread from him and then shot a series of fire balls into the sky until the wings completely disappeared. The fire balls rained down at Yoruichi who immediately realized that they seemed to be attracted to her. She began to dodge the rain of chaos fire but there were so many that it was difficult to dodge them completely. Suddenly Sceleratus was right on top of her. She activated shunko allowing her to block his kick without serious injury but then got hit by one of the raining fire balls because of it. She shot backwards out of the explosion as the kido ended but she wasn't safe yet. "Way of Chaos 10 Chaos Shuriken (Chaos Shuriken)". The ten small spinning disc of fire spread out horizontally flew at Yoruichi who slid forward on the ground under them. She quickly got to her feet in time to deflect hard chop aimed at her neck from Sceleratus. She countered by shoving her other palm forward into Sceleratus' chest. It had almost no effect due to the aura and Sceleratus responded kneeing her in the stomach. She recovered quickly blocking another chop with her hand and aimed a kick at his head. He caught her leg with his hand. The smile on his mask looked more demonic than ever. She then realized that she needed to get foot away from his hand quickly. Yoruichi tried to punch Sceleratus in the stomach but it had little effect as his aura protected him once more. The pain in her leg was getting serious. She mustered her energy and yelled "Way of Destruction 58 Tenran (Orchid Sky)". That did the trick. It furthermore pushed him back away from her.

As Yoruichi's foot touched the ground she felt intense pain. Her ankle was stiff and flexing it was not only difficult but painful. He had managed to severely damage her tendons and muscles near her left ankle.

"You look like you're in some serious pain." Sceleratus said gleefully "Having your leg injured like that should slow you down a bit."

"You talk too much." Yoruichi answered a little frustrated.

"I suppose." Sceleratus answered "But I just can't help it when I'm enjoying myself. You've proven to be quite a challenge despite your numerous disadvantages."

"Humph. But if you are so keen on talking how about you answer me this: Why did Tenran work against your chaos fire when other kidos don't?" Yoruichi asked honestly curious what happened.

"Oh it's because Tenran's actual attack is mostly wind not kido energy. The Chaos Auroioki reacts to spirit energy not too physical movement." Sceleratus explained "Usually this isn't much of a problem since such attacks do little damage anyways but I must admit it is quite annoying."

Yoruichi paused to think about this new information. She now had at least one weapon against him but how could she use it?

"Trying to find a way to exploit my small weakness?" Sceleratus asked tauntingly "You seem to be finally realizing how bad your situation is."

"Don't celebrate until you've won." Yoruichi scolded.

"Then let's finish this." Sceleratus smirked, which looked quite odd due to his mask "Way of Chaos 46 Phoenix Pulvia (Phoenix Rain)". Once more chaos fire wings opened from his back and erupted into a rain of fireballs. Yoruichi dodge backwards as quickly as she could but escaping the kido was nearly impossible since she was slowed by her injury. She was dodging the fireballs with great difficulty and Sceleratus was coming for another attack. She kept moving away from him as she dodged his kido. Even on an injured leg he couldn't catch her. He suddenly called "Way of Chaos 32 Volatilis Daemon (Flying Demon)". Sceleratus exploded forward his leg were lost in a tail of swirling chaos fire. Yoruichi ducked just in time, if she hadn't he would slammed her into the building behind her. She quickly spun and called out "Way of Destruction 58 Tenran (Orchid Sky)". The kido added even more speed to Sceleratus already surprising speed sending him flying uncontrollably into the building he had attempted to slam Yoruichi into. However this left Yoruichi open to be hit by three fireballs from Phoenix Pulvia.

Yoruichi collapsed to the ground. Light burns now covered most of her body. It stung dully whenever she flexed almost any muscle. Her left leg could barely move at all anymore and her right leg wasn't much better having been hit directly by the second fireball. Sceleratus got up slowly as he regained his senses. The wall behind him was cracked and dented from his impact. A light trickle of blood ran down his back from his head. He still looked a little disoriented from the impact. He slowly walked over to Yoruichi. He bent down his arms resting on his knees "You put up a good fight Shihoin Yoruichi. I have to admit that last attack hurt but I fear it end here."

Yoruichi looked back into his eyes for a moment and shoved her right hand into his chest next to his soul chain. Her hand pierced his heart. His eyes widened in horror and confusion. She removed her hand and he fell back staring at her. "I told you that you talked too much. Your aura only stops things that contain kido or reiatsu. I simply masked my reiatsu while I stabbed you. If you had just kept your mouth shut I might not have discovered your weakness."

Sceleratus' aura faded as he sat looking at Yoruichi. "I can't say I like you but I admit you've got me there. Good luck to you, Shihoin Yoruichi, you're going to need it."

"Why is that?" Yoruichi asked panting.

"Ignotus can sense what direction we are in and when we die." Sceleratus said making his final explaination "He will probably send someone to collect my 'remains' and if whoever killed me is still around finish the job I started. Since you probably can't stand none the less walk you'll still be here when that person gets here." Yoruichi was noticeably worried by this revelation. "Well good bye Yoruichi may your luck be better than mine." He said it almost cheerfully but at the same time sounded like he might be sincere. Sceleratus' body then burst into chaos fire. The fire consumed his entire body. With a dull thud his mask hit the ground; it was all that remained of the demon, Sceleratus.

Over near the senkaimon gates Nicole was on a roof top when Ignotus walked up next to her. He spoke grimly "Sceleratus is dead." He then pointed in the direction Sceleratus had been. "I would like you to scout the area."

Nicole nodded "It will be done. I will hurry back assuming I don't run into trouble."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Alice and I are more than capable of managing on our own." Ignotus answered simply.

"Ok then I'll be on my way." Nicole said with a smile before she promptly vanished.

"It doesn't matter how many times I see her run, I still am amazed at her sheer speed." Ignotus said to himself turning to walk back to Alice.

As he walked up too Alice he spoke as much to himself as to her "So Sceleratus has fallen. Elle still seems to be fighting, most likely against Eve. The others are on the front line which, according to their last report, is going well. I do worry about putting Claude out so near enemy territory though."

Alice spoke calmly "I think Grim is more likely to die than Claude. He wants to fight Coal and will likely go into enemy territory to achieve his goal. Santri was instructed not to go too far from Claude. Santri will obey orders even if he does so reluctantly. Claude therefore is relatively safe."

"True I suppose. Who do you suppose Sceleratus lost to?" Ignotus mused aloud.

"I don't know. He tends to retreat when he is at the disadvantage and knows his limits well." Alice considered. "On the other hand" She said seemingly zoning out as she looked up at the sky "he's always had horrible luck."

Yoruichi was still lying on the ground unable to stand properly. Suddenly a shadow appeared over her.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful?" Kuchiki Byakuya asked with seemingly no emotion at all.

Yoruichi looked up at him for a moment before saying "Well are you going to just stand there or are you going to take me to the fourth squad barracks?"

Byakuya sighed before bending down to pick Yoruichi up. He then notice she was holding something. "What is that?" He asked looking at the black mask in Yoruichi's hand.

"All that remains of my opponent." She answered "I think Captain Kurotsuchi will be interested in it."

As Byakuya headed for the 4th squad barracks Yoruichi could not help but comment "It must take you forever to get anywhere at these speeds." A hint of annoyance entered Byakuya's expression.


	13. Catfight

**Chapter 13: Catfight**

The Two warriors stood facing each other in the old stadium, each with their swords drawn and released. Eve wasn't sure if she was ready to kill her old friend but there was no time to be unsure now. Eve knew once Elle had made her decision her hand would not hesitate. There were no more options now; there was only a fight to the death before them.

Elle attacked first. Her sword simply met Eve's. Eve moved left quickly while pushing Elle a little off balance to stall her. Elle followed but slid low under the _Mirum Proelium _(Surprise attack) Eve left hanging in the air before her. Elle quickly returned to her knees in time to block Eve's downward slash. Elle pushed Eve back as she rose to her feet. It seemed Elle was still physically stronger than Eve just like always.

Eve continued to keep as much distance as possible while they fought knowing that Elle's _**Magnificus Fulgur**_ (**Magnificent Lightning**) needed only to lightly brush its opponent for its ability to take effect. _**Magnificus Fulgur**_'s ability sends electricity into your body when it makes contact with your skin. This causes all the muscles near that point to spasm uncontrollably. The spasm last little more than a second but that is plenty of time to lose your balance or drop your sword. To make it worse it takes another second or two to regain control of those muscles. Elle usually uses this time to cut you once more and the cycle begins again. She uses each cut to give her an opening for the next. Eve knew Elle's style well and attempted to keep her distance.

Elle, on the other hand, constantly had to pursue Eve. Not only was Elle's zanpakto's ability useless at any real range but furthermore Eve's zanpakto was more dangerous as distance increased between them. _**Victoria Umbra**_ (**Victory's Shadow**), Eve's zanpakto, had two abilities. _Mirum Proelium _(surprise attack) left an invisible slash hanging in mid-air until anyone besides Eve tried to walk through it, at which point it would cut as if her sword had just been swung. Elle knew as long as Eve couldn't get any distance she would have no time to make any real use of this ability. _Atrum Mirum_ was the second ability. It left a black slash hanging in mid-air. The attack launched forward after a set amount of time proportional to its strength. This attack was ranged by nature and of course had more uses at long range.

Elle continued to press the attack attempting to but lightly cut Eve. Eve continued to block but was unable to put any real distance between them. Eventually Eve managed to create an _Atrum Proelium _between them, momentarily cutting off Elle's pursuit. Elle would not be dissuaded; she maneuvered around Eve's attack and called out "Way of Binding 9 Horin (Disintegrating Circle)". Eve dodged away from the orange rope but it caught her left leg pulling it out from under her. Eve cut the kido off as she fell to the ground. Despite Eve's reaction speed Elle was upon her almost immediately. Eve quickly slide backwards on the ground to avoid her legs getting cut. Elle advanced on Eve but suddenly moved right as she was cut by a _Mirum Proelium _across left her arm. This gave Eve enough time to get up and block Elle's next attack. Eve held her ground and spoke to Elle "You were the only one I ever knew who could avoid my _Mirum Proelim_ to any real degree."

Elle answered smiling "Well most people never figured out that there is a half second delay between when you activate the attack and when it hits. But it takes a subtle sense of reiatsu to feel the trap activate anyways. Most order members could probably feel it and react in time if they knew what to look for."

The girls separated once more. As Elle struck at Eve once more Eve couldn't help but remember that there was a time when her and Elle where best friends. How had it come to this? Eve had no time to contemplate this. There was no time to be distracted when her opponent was Elle. Elle had always been stronger than her it seemed. Not only had she always been physically stronger but also Elle had a higher amount of reiatsu, a better sense of reiatsu, and a higher durability. In things like speed, swordsmanship, and kido they were always about equal, though when it came to normal kido Elle had always favored binding kido while Eve favored destruction kido. On top of that despite the fact that Eve had gotten much stronger it seemed all these statements still held. Elle it seemed had grown just as much as Eve.

Elle continued to leave Eve few openings to get away. Eve finally managed to get some distance using another _Atrum Proelium_. The battle momentarily halted with Elle only about 10 feet from Eve. This distance may seem small but it left more than enough time for them to defend if the other decided to attack. They still kept their swords raised despite this. Elle calmly spoke "Confounded by the fact that I have kept up with your growth?"

"Huh?" Eve said surprised having not expected this. She had been thinking about how to approach the situation.

"You were looking much more confident earlier. Now you seem so frustrated." Elle teased as if Eve were a naïve little girl. She always used this voice when she knew something Eve didn't.

Eve glared at Elle. She was conflicted within between the urge to fire the first destruction kido that popped into her head and curiosity about what Elle might know. Eve reluctantly gave into her curiosity and said as nonchalantly as she could "I admit that did surprise me a bit, since I have grown so much since I left the order."

Elle smiled because Eve's cool demeanor didn't fool her. "You never questioned why you grew so fast did you?" Elle continued gleefully.

Eve was already regretting this a little but continued in order to satisfy her curiosity "I thought it was a little surprising but I never really questioned it further."

Elle's smile was annoying Eve more by the minute. "You see I was investigating the way you and Coal sealed your Oaths of Chaos and found it had some interesting side effects."

"_You_ were doing kido research on par with Coal." Eve said mockingly "Not likely." This wiped the annoying smile of her face.

"Coal conveniently left most of his notes behind when you two left the order." Elle responded coldly "And though it was difficult to decipher many of them due to his horrible handwriting I managed to grasp what he did."

Eve simply waited silently for the explanation.

"His plan was to sever the link with Ignotus so he could no longer be tracked using it. But it seems he inadvertently removed another effect of the Oath of Chaos. One that he didn't even know existed." Elle explained "I discovered this secondary accidental effect of his seal while I was trying to discover a way to track you despite this seal. What I found was that the Oath of Chaos itself has an effect none of us knew about." Elle paused here for dramatic effect. "The Oath of Chaos burns off some of your power at all times. Coal accidentally blocked this effect along with breaking the link with Ignotus. Within hours of using the seal on the Oath of Chaos your power will have returned to its true level."

"That's ridiculous." Eve stated in disbelief "I would have noticed if my power suddenly increased."

Elle smirked again "But your power didn't increase, it simply returned to full."

Eve countered again "But even then I would have noticed my increase in attack power."

"You didn't notice because you were training with Coal who had also increased in power so you didn't notice." Elle explained confidently.

Eve stood in shock. She had actually noticed at the beginning that she seemed stronger but she thought it was her imagination. This explained why she had defeated Sean. Furthermore this explained why Elle was still just ahead of her like always. But Sean's power however hadn't increased which meant Sean didn't have this seal on him. Eve understood now. "You haven't told anyone this. You kept it a secret to help you advance in the order." Eve accused.

"Yes I did." Elle answered without a hint of remorse.

"But if you're using the same seal as Coal and me shouldn't that cut off your link with Ignotus? There is no way he wouldn't notice that." Eve asked curiously.

"I'm not using the same seal as you though, or at least not all of it." Elle explained clearly enjoying Eve's lack of information "You see when Coal made his seal he made it in 2 seals. The first seal cancelled out energy he perceived to be making the connection and the second seal preventing the connection from being remade. The first seal actually disables this weakening factor which it seems is made to provide energy for the link. You see by simply only using the first seal I can remove the dampening effects without breaking the link. The link gains enough energy from Ignotus to maintain itself as long as I don't go too far from Ignotus which turns out to be a considerable distance."

"I must admit that is a surprising turn of events." Eve said contemplating the ramifications of all of the order members in fact being stronger than even they knew. "But it doesn't make much difference really as long as I kill you before you tell any of the order members."

Elle smiled "If you can kill me. You have always been a little weaker than me and that hasn't changed."

"Don't act like I've never beat you." Eve answered slyly.

"Don't act like you won so much as half the time." Elle countered.

"I guess we should get to it." Eve said readying herself. She had to defeat Elle. She had to kill Elle. Eve cut a _Atrum Mirum _in the air before her. Elle shot left out of the way of its future path. Eve remained stationary cutting _Mirum Proelium _all around herself. Elle knew in order to force Eve out of her invisible shield of attacks she would need her chaos kido.

"Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (Release)" Elle called. Her mask formed as a tiger. It covered her entire face and was mostly black. The stripes on her mask were jagged and yellow like lightning. The tiger's mouth was open as if roaring and within it, through the fangs, you could see Elle's mouth.

Eve knew that Elle was finally getting serious and called "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo". Eve's own cat mask covered her face.

"Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" Elle said launching a fast moving fireball with a spiraling tail. Eve moved aside out of her protected area. Elle was upon her instantly. The two clashed swords. Eve attempted to return to her _Mirum Proelium_s but Elle cut her off by calling "Way of Chaos 4 Ignis Pila (fire ball)". The small fire ball blocked Eve's path. Eve pull away as Elle continued her pursuit. Eve called "Way of Chaos 10 Chaos Shuriken (Chaos Shuriken)." Elle carefully dodged between two of the spinning fire disc but Eve called "Way of Destruction 33 Sokatsui (Blue Fire, Crash Down)". Elle would not be deterred and answered with "Way of Chaos 15 Chaos Spherae (Fire Sphere)". The kidos collided ending in a tie. Eve stabbed at Elle though the smoke of the explosion. Elle blocked and forced Eve's blade aside to drive a counterattack through. Eve pulled back quickly but Elle caught the outside of Eve's left thigh with a light cut. Eve leg groaned in pain as it attempted to bend its knee both ways at once. Her knee ended up going straight pushing her of balance. Eve landed on her right side hard. Eve rolled quickly to avoid first Elle's slash and raised her sword to block her second attack. Eve's leg was functioning again and Eve kicked Elle in her left leg causing her to stumble. Eve pushed away, rolling over backwards to get back on her feet. Elle gave chase but saw the green half of Eve's sword glow signaling the _Mirum Proelium _that she cut low to the ground. As Eve stepped back Elle jumped the attack to meet Eve's blade once more with her own. Eve was forced back once more by Elle's superior strength.

Elle's eyes glanced left for a second. Eve saw it but didn't know why since she didn't really have time to look. As Elle and her clashed again she suddenly felt the reiatsu that Elle had sensed a moment before she pulled back from Elle just barely managing to cut an _Atrum Mirum_ between them and then turned to meet the new arrival's attack. She blocked the scythe but the blade still nearly reached her face. Eve pulled away from Grim quickly but he chose not to pursue. Elle had stopped as well after dodging the _Atrum Mirum_.

The pair stared at Eve. Eve knew the battle had turned against her now. Grim was two ranks above Elle and was looking menacing indeed. Elle was dangerous but at least Eve knew what to expect from her. Eve had never even seen Grim's bankai. Elle spoke with a tone of annoyance to Grim "I don't need your help Grim. I want to finish her myself."

"If you can finish her. She is on par with you from what I've seen." Grim reasoned calmly "It just makes better sense not to risk it Elle. We don't have too many members so it puts quite a dent in our fighting ability losing so much as one. We should fight her together."

"I'll be fine" Elle defiantly but she knew he had a point.

Grim simply gave her the 'I'm not leaving' look.

"Fine we'll finish this together." Elle reluctantly consented with still a hint of threat in her voice.

Eve answered oddly cheerily "Don't feel bad Elle, I would have preferred a one-on-one fight too. We'll just have to settle for a two-on-two fight I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to settle fo...Wait what do you mean two-on-two!" Elle sputtered in confusion.

From behind Elle and Grim a voice yelled "_Vallo Obvium Totus __**Atrum Custos**_ (Defend Against All **Dark Gaurdian**)"


	14. CE vs GE

**Chapter 14: C+E vs. G+E**

Coal exploded at Grim from behind. Grim spun quickly, his scythe seeking Coal's blood. Coal's black shield blocked the attack that came from the right. Coal crossed himself stabbing at Grim from behind his shield. Grim pulled away quickly glancing sideways to see where Elle had gone. Elle had engaged Eve once more. Grim had no time to intervene however since Coal called "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (White Lightning)". Grim moved left, which was away for Elle and Eve, to dodge the attack. Coal pursued Grim who continued to draw out the chase looking for an opening. Grim attempted to slash upwards form the lower right thinking he might have found an opening. His attempt was in vain as Coal dodged out of the way. Grim could already tell that a fight with Coal would be a long frustrating one. Grim's scythe met Coal's shield once more. Suddenly Grim and Coal pulled apart out of the way of an _Atrum Mirum _from the other fight. Grim took this chance to attempt to intervene in his partner's fight.

Eve and Elle had their swords crossed. Elle saw Grim and pushed Eve back with all her might hoping to send her of balance. Eve kept her footing even as she was forced back and turned in time to blocked Grim's slash. Elle would have attacked her but Coal yelled "Way of Destruction 31 Shakkaho (Red Flame Cannon)". Elle was forced to counter with "Way of Binding 39 Enkosen (Arc Sheild)". Coal's glowing red ball of kido proved unable to break Elle's spinning yellow shield. Eve was being slowly forced to the ground by Grim's superior strength so Coal decided to intervene. Grim saw Coal closing in and quickly put some distance between him and Eve.

Eve pursued Grim but Coal quickly turned and met Elle who had come from behind. Elle kept a bit of distance between her and Coal knowing he was physically stronger. Elle relied on speed attempting to break through Coal's defense but had no success. Coal's shield was large and she wasn't enough faster than him to get around it.

Meanwhile, Eve was having about as much luck Elle. Even though she was faster than Grim this didn't seem to help. Grim used wide sweeping slashes meaning he only needed to know the vague direction she was coming from. To make matters worse if their weapons met Grim was even stronger than Elle. This meant he could force her to the ground without much difficulty. Eve decided _Atrum Mirum _was the better course of action. However Grim called "_Trucido Falx_(Slaying Scythe)" and with a swing of his scythe a thin blood red slash flew forward at an incredible speed. The attack slashed through and destroyed her _Atrum Mirum_ and forcing Eve to quickly dodge out of the way to avoid meeting the same fate. Grim moved to meet Eve once more. Eve move backwards quickly seeing her opportunity. As Grim pursued he was cut across his left arm by a _Mirum Proelium_ Eve had set earlier while fighting Elle. Grim paused for a moment looking at his sleeve. "Trying to figure out how I cut you?" Eve asked smiling.

"No" Grim answered "Trying to figure out how hard it will be to repair my suit. Elle has already explained how your shikai form works. It's not like you actually did that much damage anyways."

Eve realized that indeed the cut wasn't very deep. It was barely bleeding at all. His reiatsu must be huge to make her attack so ineffective. In fact Grim's reiatsu now must be in fact higher than Sean's during bankai.

Grim smiled with an air of superiority about him. "My reiatsu is almost as high Santri's total reiatsu. Once we have both used bankai my reiatsu is actually higher than his."

Eve was shocked at this information. The idea of Grim having higher reiatsu than the abomination that was Santri's bankai was an alarming thought.

Suddenly Elle appeared next to Grim. Coal promptly appeared by Eve but a little more forward than her. Coal and Grim still hadn't released there masks. Coal had a cut on his upper right leg. "She actually got an attack past your defense?" Eve asked a little surprised.

"Nope" Coal answered "That cut is your doing." referring to a _Mirum Proelium_ he had ran into.

"I'm here to trade opponents." Elle said to Grim "I don't like fighting Coal." Coal couldn't help but smile.

Grim said "fine by me, I want to fight Coal anyways."

"Wait a second! So Eve and Elle want to fight against each other one-on-one" Coal said like he was thinking through a word problem "and you(pointing to Grim) want to fight me. And I don't really care. Then why don't we just have two separate fights, one right after the other?"

Elle showed no sign of objection. Eve smiled clearly delighted by the idea. "That doesn't make sense." Grim said like it was completely absurd.

"I say we take the deal." Elle stated with a hint of command in her voice.

"You're just saying that because you want to fight Eve on your own." Grim said accusingly.

"While that is true but it also makes sense to do so. I'm the only one here who has seen all four of our bankais and trust me when I say it is to our advantage to not let Eve and Coal fight together. My bankai hinders you but it has little effect on Coal. The same goes for Eve's bankai for that matter. They are simply better suited for team fighting than us."

Grim had to admit he had never been close enough to Coal when he was using his bankai to know what it did or even get a good look at it but he did know it took the form of a massive cape. He however did not know any of its inner workings. Grim reluctantly said "Fine. You ladies can go first since you are so keen on your duel."

"Such a gentleman" Elle said sarcastically as her mask faded from existence. Eve looked confused at why Elle had dispelled her mask until Elle turned and, to Coal's and Eve's even greater surprise, kissed Grim. They separated a few seconds later without a word.

Coal looked to Eve for some explanation but Eve simply shrugged before kissing Coal herself. After a few seconds Elle gave an impatient grunt telling them to stop. Eve reluctantly let go of Coal and he turned toward the stands.

Coal and Grim then headed for the stands together with their weapons sheathed (or rather hanging on his back in Grim's case). Coal turned to Grim "You and Elle? I can't say I would have guessed. I would have thought she would try to kill you within a week."

"I'm a little surprised myself but me and Elle work well as it happens." Grim said "I can't say that I'm surprised by you and Eve. Everybody was expecting that for almost as long as you were in the order. You should have heard the number of bad jokes Sean made about the two of you running off together."

"Well Sean has always had a bit of a dirty mind. He's the one who told me that Nicole's Oath of Chaos is on her left thigh and then ask me to guess how he knew. I think the only time he is ever serious is when he fights." Coal said casually.

They had reached the stands and sat down next to each other to watch their girlfriends fight to the death. Grim could not help but feel a little odd sitting next to and talking casually with a person he fully intended to kill. However what made it really odd was the fact that Coal didn't seem to find it awkward at all. "Why are you so comfortable sitting next to your enemy?" Grim could not help ask.

"You may be my enemy but I know you have honor." Coal said simply "I don't think you'll attack me. Plus it is nice to have someone to discuss a good fight with."

"Hmmm. You really are an odd person." Grim said before turning his attention to the two girls about to fight "I suppose you have seen these two go at it several times."

"Yes I have. " Coal answered "And I think this is going to be a far better fight than any they've had before. Watch closely Grim we are in for quite a show."

Elle and Eve stood about 30 feet apart facing each other with deadly intent. Their past didn't matter anymore the girls thought. When they met in the Shingami Academy, when they both entered the 2nd squad, when Elle disappeared from a mission and Eve asked to be a member of the team to investigate what happened, when Eve's entire team was wiped out by the order and Elle begged the order to let Eve join, when Elle let Eve and Coal leave the order without raising any alarm, even when Eve let Elle go to the senkaimon gates without stopping her: None of it mattered. But that thought was ridiculous. Of course it mattered, no matter how much both Eve and Elle wished it didn't. But there was still no other option, no escaping their path and both were determined to follow this to the end.

They would not be able to agree here. Elle believed the seireitei was too strict to function, and ultimately did as much harm as good. Elle thought it would be better to destroy the seireitei and let shinigami work as free agents to achieve control over hollows. Eve saw the seireitei as system for keeping balance in the world and though she didn't always agree with its decisions, she believed removing it would surely end in disaster and pure anarchy. Eve thought surely attempting to change the seireitei was a better idea than destroying it. Both believed in their side and both were willing to die fighting for it.

"No more messing around Eve." Elle said holding her sword in a reverse grip behind her "It's time to finish this fight." Her swords markings were glowing brightly and producing a low hum.

"It's time to see how powerful you've really become Elle." Eve said and quietly thought to herself 'and how strong I've become as well'. Eve's sword was at her side and seemed to be concentrating darkness within it.

There was a surge of reiatsu and Alice suddenly turned to look in the direction of the stadium. "So they finally released their bankais." She muttered to herself "But I do wonder how Elle and Eve convinced Grim and probably Coal to stay out of their fight?"


	15. Pushing Towards the Limit

**Chapter 15: Pushing Towards the Limit**

The world went dark like a perpetual twilight hung over the area. Eve had emerged in her simple black outfit. Her swords green back looked like frozen emerald fire. "_**Victoria Umbra **__Crepusculum_ (**Victory's Shadow **Twilight)" Eve said softly.

Across from her stood Elle, her bankai held behind her in a reverse grip. Her sword had gained a series of identical jagged fangs along it. Each fang consisted of two pieces of metal that sandwiched her sword between them. They reached from a piece of metal along the back of her sword and went around the blade to meet and then stick out maybe a centimeter beyond the edge of the sword. There were 18 of these fangs along the length of the sword. Each piece of metal had a small hole in the middle of it which was emitting some sort of thin grey smoke that now hung all around Elle. The smoke itself seemed to hum quietly. Behind the fangs you could see her sword's original markings still glowing. "_**Magnificus Fulgur **__Tempestas_(**Magnificent Lightning **Storm)" Elle roared in response.

Eve immediately performed _Atrum Speculum_(Dark Mirror) and 5 shadows scattered in all directions. Elle swung her sword hard as it let loose a rush of the smoke from it. The smoke spread far in front of her in all directions. Eve and her clones shot into the smoke. One of the 5 struck from the left of Elle but was easily parried and slashed to shreds of darkness. Elle then dodged right and promptly dispatched another fake. 2 rushed her and she saw that one of them was moving faster. Elle suddenly heard a footstep behind her and knew the final clone was coming from behind. Being left with little choice Elle's sword markings glowed brighter and her swords fangs started to glow as well. The real Eve pulled back immediately. Elle cried "_Candidus Fulgur_(Shining Lightning)". Elle's sword seemed to explode with light for a second. Both Eve's clones were destroyed while Eve burst out of the smoke.

"I swear her _Candidus Fulgur_ should be brighter than that." Grim noted.

"Eve's bankai reduces the amount light within the bounds of her bankai indiscriminately. It doesn't matter where the light comes from." Coal explained

"I must say that is rather odd." Grim said contemplating the ability. A moment later however Grim decided to change subjects "Eve seems to be in trouble already." He noted with a smile

"I'm not too worried about her." Coal answered "Though I do acknowledge that Elle is at a considerable advantage here. That smoke of hers has small amounts of electricity in it causing a kind of static cling. The smoke therefore slows down her opponents. It makes it difficult to approach her. On top of that the static effect acts as a series of micro-attacks, and while they are not nearly strong enough to do any damage they slowly eat up your reiatsu. Her bankai really is quite dangerous."

"On top of that since the smoke conducts electricity she can hit anything within it with her electric attacks." Grim said smiling "Her _Candidus Fulgur_ is a burst of electricity that uses the smoke as a medium to electrocute those nearby. The closer you are to her the stronger it is. The denser her smoke is the stronger the attack becomes. For that matter the denser her smoke is the more powerful all of her attacks become." Eve was now attacking with _Atrum Mirum_s(Dark Surprise).

"True but the farther she spreads her smoke the less dense it becomes." Coal noted.

"But also the longer her bankai is in effect the more smoke she has. " Grim countered with a smirk "And she can use burst of reiatsu to produce smoke faster." Then Grim paused a moment before realizing something odd about what he had seen. "But Eve knows all this having dueled with Elle countless times. Eve was Elle's sparring partner when Elle was learning to use her bankai. Why would Eve attack Elle like that when she knew that wouldn't work?"

"I think because she was trying to gauge how much these effects have strengthened." Coal guessed.

"Makes sense" Grim said returning his full attention to the battle.

Eve swung hard releasing a _Vetera Proelium_ (Faded Attack). The unseen slash flew at Elle who dodge left though she did not know for sure where it was. Elle knew about how fast the attack flew and could tell approximately were Eve had aimed it which allowed her to dodge _Vetera Proelium_ as long as she saw Eve launch it. Eve continued to keep her distance as she cut an _Atrum Mirum _into the air but it came to nothing. She would keep leading Elle around the stadium slowly knowing that Elle had to risk finding a _Mirum Proelium _whenever she moved. Elle also didn't have much control over her smoke without burning up a fair amount of reiatsu. This meant Elle couldn't suddenly rush attack Eve without leaving herself more vulnerable. Elle however knew if she was patient her smoke would continue to slowly increase in amount.

"You know you're in trouble Eve." Elle said with a sneer "You always had problems fighting my bankai and things haven't changed. You still are simply outmatched by my bankai's abilities."

"You're as confident as ever I see." Eve said appearing unworried though she had to admit this wasn't easy. Eve then slyly said "Though I have been wondering something;" Her face changed to a comically bewildered look "how in the world did you and Grim end up together?"

Elle laughed for a few seconds before answering "We just kind of happened. Nicole actually suggested it. He really is a gentleman once you get to know him."

"Yeah, a gentleman who reaps souls to increase his power." Eve said "plus he just seems stuck up."

Grim turned to Coal "I can't really here what they're saying very well but I think I heard my name."

Coal answered "They're probably discussing us down there. Even if they are no longer friends, old habits die hard."

"You just don't know him very well." Elle said answering Eve's assault. Elle then quickly countered before Eve could say anything else "I see you've finally got Coal. It only took you how long?"

"I had Coal before I left the order. I just hadn't told you yet because I thought it would be awkward since you asked him out once." Eve answered casually "And you aren't one to give advice on relationships. How many times did you date Sean again?"

"I think we should go back to trying to kill each other." Elle said getting annoyed.

"Oh right." Eve agreed snapping back to the reality of the situation "It's about time we got down to business." Eve readied herself to make her assault on Elle's ever growing defense. Eve knew she had a few tricks up her sleeve that Elle didn't know about.

Eve cut an _Atrum Mirum_ in the air and released 6 clones using _Atrum Speculum_. 2 of the 7 figures rushed into the smoke while the others stayed back. Elle rushed to meet them she cut the first one apart without any effort at all. Elle the dodged right to avoid the _Atrum Mirum _as the second eyeless visage of Eve charged her. She countered it pushing it back and slashing it apart. She barely noticed out of the corner of her eye Eve swinging her sword with both sides glowing signifying the release of a _Vetera Proelium_. Elle dodged right once more and suddenly realized Eve had forced her nearly to the edge of her smoke. The real Eve was running full speed, skirting the outside of the smoke, towards her. Elle quickly tried to pull back but Eve called "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" cutting off Elle's retreat with the kido. Elle turned to face Eve but too Elle's surprise Eve called out "Way of Destruction 58 Tenran (Orchid Sky)". Elle almost reflexively called "Way of Binding 39 Enkosen (Arc Shield)" protecting her from the wind. Elle realized what Eve had done immediately: Eve had blown her smoke away. In a flash Eve's remaining 4 clones had lined up single file between them. Elle now saw that it was all a set up for a _Flagrantia Umbra Tomus_ (Blazing Shadow Cutter).

In response to Eve's imminent attack, each fang on Elle's sword opened by separating the two pieces of metal on either side of the sword. They swung open like they were on hinges attached to the metal at the back of the sword. Electricity jumped between the now split fangs and the sword like crazy and the amount of electricity seemed to be rapidly increasing. As Eve cut through her clones Elle's sword gathered a mass of electricity between the now open fangs completely enveloping the blade itself and bulging even beyond the fangs. Eve was nearly upon Elle now but Eve knew she hadn't made it in time to strike Elle unhindered; Elle would meet Eve's attack with her own. Eve called "_Flagrantia Umbra Tomus_". Elle answered with "_Caelum Scindo Fulgur _(Heaven Splitting Lightning)". There was a rush of energy as they collided.

"Still a tie," Coal said watching "it's been five years and they still tie."

Eve and Elle had been thrown backwards by their collision and both now stood eyeing each other panting slightly. Eve was frustrated but not really surprised. Since Elle's strength had increased also it wasn't really surprising that the attacks were still equal. Elle was going over what had just happened in her head. Elle had been caught off guard by the Tenran kido and it had nearly cost her. It seemed Eve really did have a few tricks up her sleeve.

"You were right; this is turning out to be quite a show." Grim said as Elle returned to the protection of her smoke. "But Eve still has done nothing but tie Elle at best. Eve will run out of reiatsu long before Elle does at this rate. Eve has used up more reiatsu than Elle and has less to begin with."

"You just worry about your own girlfriend and I'll worry about mine." Coal said appearing unconcerned. Grim eyed him for a moment but said nothing. Grim was getting the uncomfortable feeling Coal knew something he didn't.

Elle was watching Eve closely. Elle knew she had to hold Eve off just a little while longer. Soon Elle would have enough smoke to use _Caelestis Threnus_ to its full effect and the battle's outcome would be all but certain. Elle seriously doubted Eve had anything that could counter it since Eve had never seen this ability but until then Elle would fall back on an old favorite.

Elle readied her sword. The fangs on her sword began to open and close giving the appearance of waves running up her sword. These 'waves' seemed to be carrying electricity up the blade and a ball of condensed electricity was quickly forming at the tip of her sword. Elle called "_Fulgur Spherae _(Lightning Sphere)" and swung her sword causing the 6" wide ball to launch forward. Eve dodged but the attack reached out with lightning that worked similar to static cling causing it to be pulled toward Eve. Eve released a clone directly between her and the attack. The electric sphere exploded on contact with the clone. Eve couldn't rest easy though; Elle had already formed another _Fulgur Spherae_ and let it fly at Eve. Eve chose to counter with kido this time yelling "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta". The attacks collided causing another explosion. Eve waited for the smoke to clear watching closely for another attack. However the attack never came. Elle was just standing there. "You can form that attack quite a bit faster than you use to." Eve commented.

"Although against your increased speed it doesn't seem to make much difference." Elle acknowledged "So I can't help but notice you're bankai hasn't seemed to have gained any new abilities. You certainly should have used them by now if it did."

"Don't be so sure." Eve said coolly.

"Don't try to act all cool. I know you; you would have used a new technique as soon as you got a descent opening in a fight as tough as this. That means either you haven't learned any new techniques or you don't think you are skilled enough with them to use them in actual combat." Elle said confidently. Elle sighed "Well that's too bad. I was so looking forward to you showing me something new…..so I could defeat it using my new technique." Elle's smoke began to gather too her and swirl around her. Elle finally had enough smoke to use her technique effectively. "Now face the true power of _**Magnificus Fulgur **__Tempestas_." Her smoke was now thick enough that between it and Eve's darkness Grim and Coal could barely see Elle at all. Elle began to lift off the ground. "Eve you will now bear witness to my _Caelestis Threnus _(Heavenly Throne)." Elle now floated within a 15 foot wide, high density cloud of her smoke a fair 40 feet off the ground. She stared down at Eve with a triumphant smirk.

"Hmmm," Coal said admiring Elle's technique "the smoke surrounding her is extremely dense meaning approaching her will not only slow you down considerably but also eat up your reiatsu quite quickly. On top of that she is now high in the air meaning she can't be reached easily in the first place. I've been wondering why she has been fighting oddly defensively up till this point when it is so unlike her. It's because she's been saving up reiatsu for this stage of her bankai. I must admit I haven't been giving Elle enough credit. This is impressive to say the least. It truly is her bankai's ability pushed to the limit."

Grim looked on fondly as he spoke to Coal "Do you still believe Eve will triumph? Eve's _Mirum Proelium_s are all close to the ground and useless now. Her clones won't be of any real use since Elle is high up and her smoke will slow them down. Her ranged attacks must be launched from so far away that Elle will have more than enough time to dodge them. On top of all that a thin layer of smoke now coats the field." Coal took his eyes off Elle and look down at the ground. Indeed the floor of the stadium was covered in a sparse mist like layer of smoke that was about 6 feet deep. Grim continued "Though this smoke is very low density it will still very slowly weaken Eve. With Eve probably already running low on reiatsu, it is unlikely she can bring down Elle before she runs out. I'm sorry that you have to watch this Coal. It would be tough for me to watch Elle die and we haven't been together nearly as long as you and Eve."

"You're right that would be hard to watch" Coal answered "but I don't think I will have to watch it today."

Grim was taken aback by Coal's sheer confidence in Eve. What could Coal possibly think would turn the tides of such a battle? It didn't matter though there was no way Eve could beat Elle now. Elle's defense was now cemented so she would finally show off her offensive side. Even if Eve was holding something back he seriously doubted it was enough to match the power Elle was about to let loose.


	16. Beyond the Limit

**Chapter 16: Beyond the Limit**

Eve stood staring up at Elle's _Caelestis Threnus_ (Heavenly Throne). Elle simply stared back at her. It was time for the battle to begin anew.

Elle's sword began forming a _Fulgur Spherae_ (Lightning Sphere) once more. Eve let loose a _Vetera Proelium _(Faded Attack) at Elle but Elle simply glided sideways. Though Elle clearly couldn't move as fast as she did on the ground she could dodge the attack without strain. Elle's_ Fulgur Spherae _had finished forming but instead of launching it the ball of electricity simply slid down the back of her sword and sat just above her hilt clinging to the back of her sword. Elle's blade then began forming another _Fulgur Spherae_. Eve could tell where this was going. Eve responded by dashing sideways while cutting 7 _Atrum Mirum_ (Dark Surprise) into the air. By making each one weaker than the one before it they would all launch at the same time. The five attacks rushed forward aimed to be spread out over a small area to make them harder to dodge. Elle had already finished the second ball and was well into making a third. Elle dodged to the outside of the attacks but was forced to call out "Way of Chaos 15 Ignis Spherae (Fire Sphere)" to block the final attack she couldn't quite dodge. Elle was starting on a fourth ball now. Eve was quickly running out of ideas. Eve would have to resort to more reckless tactics to hit Elle.

Before Eve could act on her decision Elle raised her sword having completed the fourth ball and swung it calling "_Multi Fulgur Spherae_ (Many Lightning Spheres)". Eve quickly responded with "Way of Chaos 15 Ignis Spherae" destroying one of the four. She dodged away from them loosing 3 clones from her for defense but all three were destroy by the explosion when another one of the balls made contact with one of her clones. The two remaining attacks one of the two remaining attacks failed to get a grip on her and crashed into the ground. The final ball however followed Eve clinging to her using long electrical connections. Eve shot full speed at the arena's wall. She ran up the wall doing a back flip off of it over the attack which collided with the wall. Eve whilst still in mid-air suddenly felt the incoming attack. Elle had fired a Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear) at Eve. Eve call out "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis (Repulse)". The explosion of chaos fire from her protected her from the kido but it seemed Elle had counted on this. Elle had already called "Way of Binding 9 Horin (Disintegrating Circle)".

As Eve hit the ground Eve was left momentarily defenseless having just finished Atrox Ocis. The kido wrapped around her pinning her arms to her side. Elle pulled back on the orange rope-like kido violently yanking Eve into the air. As Eve was pulled into Elle's cloud at which point Eve realized how dense the smoke really was here. Eve could feel her reiatsu being torn up and her entire body stung numbly. Elle savagely slashed Eve across the back, each fang taking a slightly different path through Eve's skin, as she flew past. Eve's back suddenly arched uncontrollably in a painful manner. Elle pulled on the kido again sending Eve flying up above her to a ways out of the smoke cloud. Elle let go of her kido, though it remained wrapped around Eve, and gripped her sword with both hands. Her sword's fangs opened wide with electricity rapidly jumping between her fangs and sword. Eve focused her strength and with great difficulty managed to forcefully tear through the kido. Eve however was now falling towards Elle and her quickly forming _Caelum Scindo Fulgur _(Heaven Splitting Lightning). Eve focused her kido and called "Way of Destruction 58 Tenran (Orchid Sky)". The cyclonic blast of wind proved unable to do more than lightly dent Elle's dense cloud held together by lightning and Elle's own will. Eve having failed to break through the cloud instead quickly released a single clone using _Atrum Speculum _(Dark Mirror). She then kicked off this clone, just before entering the cloud, sending herself flying sideways thereby avoiding Elle's attack. Elle allowed her attack to fade watching Eve land in the stands of the stadium about an eighth of the stands away from Grim and Coal. She was panting and exhausted but still looked as determined as ever.

"This fight is just about over I think." Grim said.

"I think you're right but I think you may be surprised by the outcome." Coal said.

"So you are still unable to accept the inevitable." Grim said with a truly disturbing chuckle "You may act certain but I saw fear cross your face for a moment there as Eve fell towards Elle's _Caelum Scindo Fulgur_. I'll bet Eve is just about out of both reiatsu and luck."

Eve calmly walked down to the edge of the wall that separated the stands from the arena. She stopped standing on the wall looking up at Elle. She knew she only had one option left now; she would have to use her bankai's ultimate ability. Eve had hoped she could defeat Elle without resorting to it but she had no choice now.

Elle look down at Eve as she dropped back into the arena. Elle called out to her "I think you have become even more stubborn than you use to be. I'm surprised you're still standing after all this. Oh well, you are close to your limit if you haven't reached it. You can't have too much reiatsu left."

"Your right Elle, I have only enough for one more attack." Eve said with a smile. Eve pulled something out of the sash tied around her waist. It was a stake of some sort that Elle had never seen her carry. The stake was tied to a cloth that was connected to her sash. Eve threw the state into the ground hard and walked away from it so the cloth tying her to it was taught. Elle watched in confusion. Eve began to run. She ran faster and faster the stake forcing her to move in a circle. Elle understood now; the sash kept her going in a circle so she didn't have to focus on slowing down, turning or stopping allowing her to move at even higher speeds than normal. Eve then began. All around the edge of the circle _Atrum Mirum_sbegan to appear. They were rapidly increasing in number and all seemed to be pointing in different directions. There was no way anyone could dodge them all. That's when they started to stream into the air. Elle braced herself knowing this wouldn't be easy. She focused her energy in her blade and called out "_Candidus Fulgur_(Shining Lightning)". The bright attack annihilated the first wave of _Atrum Mirum_s but there were many more coming. Elle was forced to perform 2 more _Candidus Fulgur_ to block them all but in the end the attacked ended and Elle still floated above unharmed.

Grim laughed out loud. "Was that it? Was that her final attack? You thought that could defeat Elle's _Caelestis Threnus_." Grim said manically "It's over Coal. There is no way she has any reiatsu left and there is no way she can…." Grim stopped in confusion because Coal was still smiling. Grim looked at him bewildered but Coal simply smiled back. Grim looked down at Eve and through the darkness he could see the same smile reflected on her face as well. What was going on?!

Elle look down at Eve. "That smile of yours surely is a bluff. You can't actually think you can beat me." Elle stated in disbelief.

Eve's smile did not waver "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Grim turned to Coal, his voice somewhere between disbelief and demanding an explanation "There is no way she has something up her sleeve. Without reiatsu she can't fight! She has reached her limit!"

Coal answered calmly with a smile "You are right about her being pretty much out of reiatsu. I guess you could say she has reached her limit. But you see limits are rules and rules are made to be broken."

Grim looked at him in trapped between confusion and alarm. That's when Grim noticed it was getting darker. The darkness Eve had placed on the field with her bankai seemed to be getting denser. "What do you mean by that?" Grim asked Coal now not completely sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Well as you know your reiatsu is part of your life force. Reiatsu is the part of our life force we can access and use to fight, right?" Coal asked.

Grim said "Well sure. You have more life force beyond that which is why you don't die if you run out of reiatsu. Your remaining life force has two pieces: the unessential part that you can lose without dying and the part that is the very core of your spirit. If you lose any of your core life force you will die. I reap from this core when I kill someone though I do so inefficiently."

"You are correct. However you must know that the unessential life force is quite large and that you only start lose it once you're out of reiatsu, though you do lose it very quickly if you are badly injured." Coal explained "Well what if you could access this latent energy and use it as a weapon? If you could access even as much as you're current reiatsu you would have a considerable advantage."

"But there is no way you could access that power!" Grim protested "It is woven so closely into your structure that you can't release it without tearing yourself apart!"

"You would normally be correct" Coal continued "but In Eve's case she can get around this. You see Eve's darkness is actually the act of forcing light out of existence. By condensing her darkness down on to her she can in fact force herself partially out of existence allowing her to access this power."

The world suddenly got lighter. The edge of the darkness had passed over them and it could now be seen that it was focusing towards Eve. "So she used that last attack to burn off any of her reiatsu she wouldn't need for the transformation. She would lose that reiatsu when she transformed anyways." Grim deduced "But in order to maintain such a form you would be constantly using large amounts of energy."

"You are correct once more Grim." Coal answered calmly "On average Eve only usually manages to act fast enough to use about _half_ of the energy she draws out with the other half going to maintaining her form. The longer she has to stay in that form the less power she has."

Grim smiled "Well about half of her total reiatsu will make this fight quite difficult but I wouldn't be so sure that clinches the fight for Eve. Elle still has a considerable amount of reiatsu." Grim attempted to hide his own worry at this development knowing that the odds were probably in Eve's favor now. The darkness had collapsed and taken a similar shape to Eve, like a shroud of pure shadow was covering her.

"Oh earlier I was just giving an example." Coal said calmly "Eve can actually draw out energy equivalent to nothing short of 3 times her original reiatsu. Since she learned this technique about 2 years ago I would say Eve is actually significantly more powerful than me despite the fact that due to my bankai's abilities she still wins only about half her fights with me."

Grim stared at Coal with a look of shock and horror. Grim turned and yelled at Elle "Elle, you have to stop her before she finishes her trans-". He was cut off by a sudden burst of strange energy which immediately faded. He was sure that this signaled the completion her transformation.

"_Umbra Plasmatis _(Shadow Specter)" Eve said in a voice that sounded like a hundred smaller voices attempting to whisper in unison but not quite succeeding. Her form was covered by a cloak made of flowing shadows. Some of this shadow flowed behind her as she moved like it was somewhere between torn cloth and smoke. Her entire form seemed very slightly transparent and her shape seemed not as definite due to the every moving shadow cloak. You could no longer see her mask, mouth, or any of her features clearly save her piercing green eyes that seemed to glow dimly.

Elle looked down not knowing what to make of what she was seeing. Elle didn't have long to consider either as Eve shot into the air. Not only could Eve fly now but her speed had increased a fair bit. Eve flew up above Elle and swung her sword with both sides glowing, though you could barely tell due to the fire like shadow that covered it, yelling in her eerie voice "_Comminutus Vetera Proelium _(Shattered Faded Attack)". Elle didn't have time to think about how this attack might differ from her normal _Vetera Proelium_ and dodged quickly. Elle however was hit by a few of what seemed to be small _Vetera Proelium_s. She was confused at first but it was clear what had happened once the attack reached the ground. The wide spread of what appeared to be small impacts told Elle all she needed to know. The attack must release countless smaller _Vetera Proelium _that all fire in only approximately the same direction causing it to slowly spread out similar to a blast of shrapnel. Furthermore this meant in total the attack was far stronger than her normal _Vetera Proelium_. Elle was sure Eve was smiling though she couldn't tell.

Grim looked on trying to keep his cool "Have all of her attacks increased in power and changed in some way?"

"Yes." Coal said "Just in case you haven't noticed her _Flagrantia Umbra Tomus_ (Blazing Shadow Cutter)is constantly in effect now. Though it is actually a little less than half as powerful as normal it never fades and adds a bit of its strength to every other move Eve performs."

Eve dove to the right and as she called "_Perpetua Atrum Mirum_ (Continuous Dark Surprise)". As she flew around Elle, still remaining outside her could, her sword produced a constant line of darkness streaming from it. Elle knew her _Fulgur Spherae _had little chance of hitting Eve at this speed without assistance. As Elle charged her _Fulgur Spherae_ she prepared a kido as well but was interrupted as the beginning Eve's _Perpetua Atrum Mirum_ began to fly at her she dodged the start of the attack narrowly. It seem that any piece of the line waited a certain amount of time before attacking just like her _Atrum Mirum_ but the attack could continued to be made constantly and would fire accordingly. Eve was making all kinds of different loops around her that would collapse soon. Elle called "Way of Chaos 10 Chaos Shuriken (Chaos Shuriken)" hoping to interrupt Eve's attack. As Eve move to dodge below the kido Elle fired called "_Fulgur Spherae_" releasing her ball of lightning at Eve. This got Elle hit in the shoulder by some of the _Perpetua Atrum Mirum _but was worth it to interrupt the attack.

Eve had to cease her attack and called "_Perfectus Atrum Speculum_ (Perfect Dark Mirror)" causing a clone to block the ball of lightning. The resulting explosion however knocked Eve back quite a bit. Elle then continued to dodge the constant onslaught. She quickly realized she could not hope to dodge them all and called out "_Candidus Fulgur_". This destroyed almost all that was left of the attack. As she dodged the last of it however Eve called out "_Comminutus Vetera Proelium"_. Elle was forced to drop down in order to dodge the attack but several small scratched appeared near the top of her mask and a few of her hairs floated away. Eve rose up higher and called "_Comminutus Vetera Prolium"_ again. Elle realized Eve was trying to force her out of her smoke cloud. Elle couldn't muster a _Candidus Fulgur_ in time so she yelled "Way of Binding 39 Enkosen (Arc Shield)". The barrage of micro-attacks hit and broke her kido causing her to be hit all over by what remained of the attack. This forced her at last out of her cloud and she fell to the ground barely managing to land on her feet.

Eve pursued Elle while Elle tried to pull her huge smoke cloud to the ground. Elle's cloud was so high up however that it would take some time to reach the ground. Eve called _Perfectus Atrum Speculum_ and Elle now faced 5 completely identical forms. They all had eyes and all moved at the same speed which left no way to tell them apart at all. Elle swung her sword using up some of her reiatsu to make more smoke hoping to slow them down enough to be able to fight them. Elle blocked the first assailant while gathering a kido in her hand. Elle could see her sword crack slightly from the strength of the attack. Elle pulled back yelling "Way of Binding 62 Hyapporankan (Hundred Steps Fence)". Her kido rods hit and pinned 3 of the attackers to the wall a fair 30 feet away. The two remaining assailants came at her from the right and left in front of her. Elle focused her _Candidus Fulgur _once more. She dodged the attack of the one from the left while the one on the right pull back. Elle released her _Candidus Fulgur _destroying the fake and hitting the one who had retreated revealing it to be the true Eve when it didn't vanish.

Eve seemed to fidget oddly from the attack as the fakes pinned to the wall faded from existence. This was odd since _Candidus Fulgur _shouldn't have been powerful enough at that range to cause that effect at such a range in smoke this thin. Suddenly it clicked in both Elle's and Grim's heads. Grim turned to Coal and said slyly "I see you forgot to mention that Eve's defense while she is in this form drops considerably. Let me guess, the energy she is drawing on isn't in a form proper for defense and furthermore pulling herself partially out of existence must make her easier to damage. Am I right?"

"So you finally figured it out." Coal answered as if this had been obvious "I expected you to come up with that much sooner than that."

Elle smiled maniacally "Well if that's the case. The joke is on you in the end Eve because if your defense if that low you will have no chance of surviving this!" Elle raised her sword forming what appeared to be a _Fulgur Spherae _at its tip however as she charged it all of her smoke began to gather and condense at the tip of the sword as well. As the smoke condensed the attack grew becoming a glowing, swirling ball of electricity and smoke. As the last of her smoke joined the now 18" wide ball the fangs of her sword glowed brightly. Her fangs then disconnected from her sword and began flying around the outside edge of the ball at an incredible speed. "This is my strongest attack Eve. I must sacrifice my bankai to perform it. It has such great destructive power that even Grim is unable to counter this attack. Its lightning tethers are far stronger than the ones _Fulgur Spherae_ uses meaning escaping it is nearly impossible. It will simply tear through your clones without being set off since they will be destroyed instantly by touching it. There is nothing you can do and no matter how much energy you have you won't be able to survive this. I have put everything I have into this attack. This ultimate attack is _Profana Fulgur_ (Desecrating Lightning) and it is your doom so say your last words."

"I have decided to kill you." Eve said simply "This battle is over." As Eve began to push off to fly at Elle, Elle was suddenly cut in half by a slash from nowhere cutting diagonally downward through her raised arm, entering her body just to the right of her neck, and continuing out through her lower left side. As Elle fell to the ground her attack collapsed into nothing. Only after Elle began to be engulfed by chaos fire did Eve reach where she had been standing and swing her sword calling out _Inopinabilis Mirum Proelium_ (Inconceivable Surprise Attack).

Grim stared in shock and confusion as the shadows around Eve faded. Coal provided the explanation Grim hadn't asked for "_Inopinabilis Mirum Proelium_ defies time itself. The attack actually hits before it is launched."

Eve now appeared with her zanpakto sealed once more. She had burns from Elle's electricity at random all over her body and the cut across her back was still bleeding.

Grim looked very downcast indeed. Coal spoke to him in a solemn tone "I'm sorry you had to watch that. Do you want a minute to recover before we fight or would you rather deal with your emotions with violence?"

"Violence, if you don't mind." Grim said in a dark tone getting to his feet.

"Do you want to walk down to the arena or do you just want to start fighting right here?" Coal asked compassionately as he too rose to his feet.

Grim paused for moment before answering "It's really too bad we are on opposing sides. I think we could have been good friends………….Here is good."


	17. The Reaper's Rage

**Chapter 17: The Reaper's Rage**

**Note from the Author: OK I just figured out how to access my reviews….yeah I seriously didn't know. So if you want to tell me what you think of my fanfiction feel free, if not I'll keep writing anyways. I know I don't really post chapters consistently but I will try to keep posting them about once a week.**

Coal barely drew his sword in time to block Grim's vicious attack. Coal was nearly pushed over by its force but he managed to hold his ground. Coal pulled away, further up the stands, quickly but Grim wouldn't let him escape easily. "_Trucido Falx_ (Slaying Scythe)" Grim yelled releasing a thin blood red slash from his weapon. Coal dodged the first attack but when Grim followed with yet another Coal cried "_Vallo Obvium Totus __**Atrum Custos **_(Defend Against All **Dark Guardian**). The large black shield blocked the second attack though you could visibly see where the attack had hit. Grim pursued with ferocity that seemed unnatural next to his normal calm manner. Coal continued to fight defensively never allowing Grim a single hit.

Eve was watching Grim and Coal's display of fighting prowess from the floor of the arena. She held Elle's tiger mask in her hand loosely. She was worried about her captain. Since she had gained her bankai's final form they had always been reasonably confident she could beat Elle but they had never even thought through a scenario where Coal fought Grim. Nor had they ever thought Grim's reiatsu store was as huge as she now knew it must be. Was Coal really up for this? She banished such a thought from her mind immediately. Coal would bring Grim down. Coal could always seem to find a way out of the worst situations and this would be no different.

A cyclonic blast of chaos fire forced Grim to pull back. Coal had released his spike crowned mask. Grim responded by calling "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (release)" showing his own skull mask. Grim began to pull back towards the arena and Coal reluctantly followed. As they hit the ground of the arena floor Eve retreated into the stands being in no condition to be in the middle of their fight. Coal called "Way of Chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas (Fire Storm)" and once again a swirling, widening blast of chaos fire erupted from his shield. Grim responded in kind also yelling "Way of Chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas". The twin kidos collided and ended in a tie.

The battle paused momentarily in the wake of the kidos. Coal spoke to Grim panting a little "I would think someone as angry as you would have lost some of their precision but for you that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Thank you, I suppose." Grim answered once more calmly "I must say your defense is astonishing. Even fighting this viciously I still haven't landed a single hit."

"You seem quite calm again or do you just always talk like this to hide what you are actually feeling?" Coal asked readying himself incase Grim decided to answer by example.

"I got out the initial burst but I suppose calm wouldn't be the way I'd describe me right now." Grim answered with an elegance not befitting the sentence he had spoken.

Twilight had fallen upon the arena now. "Why do you hate the Seireitei so much?" Coal had suddenly felt the urge to ask and had chosen to act on it.

Grim replied with just a hint of true anger in his eyes "They locked me away without me having really done anything. The first time I used my released zanpakto against a hollow and accidentally reaped its soul they locked me away in the 'Maggots Nest'. They said my zanpakto disrupted balance instead of bringing it and they could not allow me to walk around using it. I was barely out of the academy for a week and was already destined to never to see the outside again. What kind of monstrous organization is that?"

Coal was at a loss for words. No wonder Grim hated the seireitei. Coal had to admit he personally liked the seireitei far less after this conversation. Coal finally answered "You have my respect Grim. I can't blame you for hating the seireitei for such an atrocity."

Grim wasn't expecting that response. "So will you still stand by them despite that?" Grim asked.

"I fear I must." Coal replied "You see I can't overlook how little pause you give to killing off the entire seireitei. Can you really think killing them all is right?"

"No" Grim answered unfazed "I simply see it as the only option, the only way to deal with those who will never truly accept us. They may offer to open negotiations but they only do so because they realized we were a threat. They would never really accept us; merely tolerate us for lack of another option. "

"And I see stopping you as the only way to protect the world from being plunged into chaos and painted red with blood." Coal said having seemingly reassured himself "I won't say what the seireitei did was right but I'll bet on them over an order that houses monsters like Santri."

"We house those who were rejected by the seireitei or were cast aside for trying to change it. You see we have become an equal and opposing force to the seireitei." Grim answered, though his calm demeanor was crumbling and giving rise to something much darker "It is only natural that they reap what they sowed. The seireitei did things that were monstrous and in doing so created monsters." Coal now recognized that Grim wasn't just talking about other members of the order. Grim's eyes flashed dangerously revealing a hint of the monster hidden beneath the man.

Coal could feel that the conversation was over and it was time for the battle to resume. Grim came at Coal again, his ferocity possibly even greater than before. Grim started with a low sweeping slash causing Coal to jump back. He then attempted a strike from above which Coal blocked. Coal responded by firing a Byakurai (white lightning) from his sword hand. Grim dodged and then readied his scythe for another go at Coal. Grim swung hard at Coal's left. Grim aimed to hook the scythe around the shield and cut Coal's arm. Grim knew it wasn't important where he cut Coal but simply that he cut Coal. Coal again denied Grim's blade the taste of blood and struck at Grim with a quick stab. The handle of Grim's scythe deflected the attack with ease. Grim then saw an opening. Grim swung the non-sharp end of his scythe into Coal's side as hard as he could. Coal staggered left from the attack. Grim quickly moved the business end of the scythe close to the ground and brought the scythe ripping upward. Coal pulled back too slow, Grim had broken his defense at last. The cut through Coal's right upper chest wasn't especially deep but Grim knew it was more than enough. Coal pulled back quickly attempting to gather his defense. Grim chose to pursue while Coal was still trying to recover his senses. Grim quickly realized his folly as Coal yelled "Way of Destruction 63 Raikoho (Thunder Roar Cannon)". Grim pulled partially out of the way but the blast still sent him flying several yards.

As Grim regained his footing he found Coal examining the cut Grim had left. Coal's gaze moved to Grim as he asked "This cut seeps reiatsu, right? The purpose of this wound is to run your opponent dry of reiatsu making them unable to fight."

"Indeed." Grim said calmly but something about his voice seemed sadistic.

"Well then," Coal said raising his shield "I better not waste time." Coal's shield split down the middle from the top of his shield to its focal point and strait to the sides from there making a sort of upside-down 'T'. His shield opened so the spikes that once shot out at angles at the top of the shield now pointed directly to either side. He swung his shield around onto his shoulders so the 2 portions of the top of his shield rested on his shoulders and the bottom of his shield hung above his back. All three of the sapphires on his shield now pointed at his neck. Coal's power surged and he called "Bankai!" His shield relaxed onto his shoulders becoming shoulder guards and the bottom portion of the shield laid down on Coal's back becoming flexible. From Coal's former shield erupted a pure black cape that reached the ground. The cape overlapped in the front so it left no opening, surrounding Coal completely. As the cape finished forming any sense of Coal's reiatsu disappeared. Between his black mask, which cover his entire head, and his bankai Coal was covered in black from head to toe save the three sapphires that resided on his shoulders and back. The black varied in texture from one material to another but it still gave him a slightly eerie appearance. "It is time for you to face my true power. This is _**Atrum Custos **__Peneubula of Umbra _(**Dark Guardian **Great Cloak of Shadow), my ultimate defense."

Grim was surprised by the suddenness of Coal's release but had little time to muse over what this said about Coal's personality. Coal came at Grim so Grim made a large sweeping slash to force him away. Coal whipped his cape out intercepting the slash. The slash barely cut into the cape at all. The cape deflected the scythe and immediately proceeded to repair itself while Coal advanced apparently unfazed. Grim tried to pull back realizing the danger but Coal's cape parted revealing his sword which stabbed Grim in the left shoulder. Grim pulled away while slashing at Coal's arm which quickly disappeared back into the folds of the cape. Grim cut at the cape again using a fair bit of his strength. His attack failed to pierce the cape but succeeded in its mission. Grim wanted to gauge the strength of Coal's defense. Grim now knew if he hit Coal with his strongest slash he could probably pierce Coal's cape. Grim slashed at it repeatedly now waiting for his opening. He used the other slashes to disguise his intent and would strike when Coal came in for the counter attack. Coal opened his cape and called "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". Grim had pulled back when he saw the cape open and countered with his _Trucido Falx_. His attack cut the kido in half, destroying it, and flew at Coal. Coal took the attack without even flinching and his cape had healed a moment later. Grim used this moment to strike with his full strength at Coal's left side. To Grim's shock his attack failed to pierce the cape and furthermore it didn't even get that close. Grim had a feeling Coal was smiling beneath his mask though he couldn't see it.

Grim pulled away to reevaluate the situation. Grim stood looking at the black figure whose form was flowing slightly in the warm breeze. Grim sighed and said "Your bankai's defense increases as you fight." It was the most logical explanation by far though Grim wished it wasn't. He probably should have expected something like this when Coal called it his 'ultimate defense'.

Coal explained in a calm cold voice "Whenever my bankai is struck by an attack not only does it heal but it also learns, it becomes more resistant to the attack that struck it. Furthermore my bankai becomes resistant to attacks that are similar to the attack it was hit with. The more similar to the attack that hit me an attack is, the more resistance I gain to it. Also the more damage your attack causes to my cape the more resistance I will gain against the attack."

Eve watched as Grim mulled over the consequences of what he had just heard down below. Suddenly Eve heard a voice from farther up the stands "So that's what Coal's bankai does. I always thought it probably wasn't as simple as it looked."

Eve recognized the voice but didn't want to believe what she heard. Eve turn slowly to face the woman with blue hair. Nicole was slowly making her way down the stands towards Eve. Eve's head went into a minor panic mode. Eve was still completely drained of reiatsu and Eve wouldn't want to pick a fight with Nicole even if she were at full power. All Eve could think was 'crap, crap, crap this is not good!' which was no help at all. Eve quickly focused on collecting herself knowing panicking wouldn't solve anything. Eve calmed down and tried to think it through. The good news was Nicole hadn't killed her which Nicole could have done easily. The fact that the good news contained the fact 'Nicole could have killed her easily' was not encouraging.

Nicole looked at Eve apprehensively. "Wondering why you're still alive?" Nicole asked with a voice that was somewhere between spirited and teasing.

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised." Eve said hesitantly, scared of the answer she might provoke.

Nicole watched as Grim entered another scrimmage with Coal. "I suppose I don't like killing people that are defenseless." Nicole answered without looking at Eve "But I suppose I really should kill you. After all you killed Elle. That means you are a significant threat. I always liked you though Eve, you always seemed to be a nice person. But I suppose you are my enemy so I guess I better kill you even if it will leave an unpleasant aftertaste."

Nicole's hand moved toward her sword. Eve was so close she could clearly see the detailed cross on the guard of Nicole's sword. Eve knew this was bad; not only was Nicole close but Eve knew she no match for Nicole in speed. Eve may have gotten faster but she knew it wouldn't be enough to bridge the gap. Nicole was called the blue blur for good reason. Nicole had drawn her sword and now stood less than 10' from Eve. But Nicole never managed to attack Eve. She was interrupted by a voice yelling "_GETSUGA TENSHO! _(Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)"


	18. Arrival of the Subsitute Shinigami

**Chapter 18: Arrival of the Substitute Shinigami**

**Note from the Author: If you were just thinking 'You know for a bleach fan fiction there seems to be something missing', well he's finally here. I should probably mention at this point that this fan fiction is written based on the abilities of everyone before the fight between Ichigo and Uliquiorra. Therefore Ichigo doesn't have any abilities he may have gained during or after said fight.**

"_GETSUGA TENSHO! _(Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)" A voice roared from high up in the stands Nicole moved away from Eve quickly to avoid the attack. In a flash a man with orange hair appeared between Eve and Nicole facing the latter. Nicole looked at the man wondering where he had come from. His reiatsu was clearly captain level but she was pretty sure it hadn't been present at the senkaimon gates when they were having introductions. Nicole chose to give in to her curiosity "Who are you?" Down below Grim and Coal had momentarily stopped their confrontation to inspect what was going on.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami" Ichigo answered.

Nicole remembered hearing about him now. He was a shinigami who had gained his powers illegally. He had apparently been trained by Urahara Kisuke. He had then somehow gotten mixed up in the Aizen confrontation and had apparently at some point defeated Kuchiki Byakuya in battle. He was said to have surprising skill and power that could match and even exceed that of a captain. The order also suspected he was a vizard though it wasn't confirmed. Nicole wasn't worried though he probably wouldn't be a pushover. "I'm Nicole, ranked 4th in The Order of the Black Mask."

"You are the one of the people attacking the seireitei and responsible for the black masked hollows that are running amuck?" Ichigo asked forcefully.

"Yes I am." Nicole answered not at all intimidated by the hint of threat in Ichigo's voice.

"That's all I need to know." Ichigo said and in a flash he was upon Nicole. Nicole calmly side stepped Ichigo's massive sword. Ichigo looked surprised quickly pulling his sword from the ground and swinging his sword horizontally. Nicole disappeared and to his shock as he found when he finished his slash Nicole was laying on his sword, her own sword sheathed and her legs crossed. She tilted her head back to look at Ichigo upside down and said "I wouldn't underestimate my speed if I were you."

"Thanks for the tip." Ichigo answered gruffly with a small smile.

Nicole swung her legs off the back of Ichigo's sword and hopped down. Ichigo sharpened his eyes, determined to see her shunpo. He switched his swords direction so the blade pointed toward her and swung. He saw nothing but a flash of blue but he still saw it. The strange thing was he didn't know what 'it' was because 'it' wasn't shunpo. He lost track of her and looked around searching for where she had gone. Nicole came at him from the left but Ichigo noticed just in time to block her attack. In an instant she was gone again. Ichigo sensed danger from behind and used shunpo to dodge but when he exited shunpo she was already upon him again cutting into his left stomach.

Ichigo could see that this was going badly. He knew he might have a shot at keeping up with her if he released his bankai but she hadn't even released her shikai form. Nicole lunged at him again which he barely managed to deflect. Nicole asked with a slyly "Was that a hint of fear I saw reflected your blade?"

The words snapped Ichigo back to his senses. The words reminded him of something Urahara had said while training him. In fact the wording was almost identical to what Urahara had said……

"You trained under Urahara, didn't you?" Ichigo asked almost certain of the answer.

"Yes, I trained under him after I left soul society, but before I joined the order." Nicole answered with a smile "I suppose that means he gave you that speech as well."

"I wondered if he had made up something that sagely on the spot." Ichigo mused.

"I suspect he practiced it in a mirror for hours and then waited for an opportunity to use it." Nicole said laughing. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh along with her at the image of Urahara saying the speech with in different tones and poses in front of a mirror. Eve, Grim, and Coal stared at them confused.

The two managed regained their composure eventually and Nicole said with a reluctant tone "I suppose we should go back to trying to kill each other."

"I suppose." Ichigo answered but he wasn't as sure he wanted to fight her anymore. There was no room for hesitation on the battle field however. Ichigo readied his massive sword.

"Ready Ichigo?" Nicole asked teasingly "Remember if you blink you'll miss it."

Down on the arena floor Grim and Coal had returned their attention to their own fight. Grim was trying to keep Coal pursuing him rather than the other way around. Grim knew even if he couldn't beat Coal's defense Coal would leak reiatsu till he had nothing left to fight with. Coal however wouldn't be convinced to pursue him easily. Grim found this strange since Coal should be well aware that he had a time limit to beat Grim in. Grim slowly began to piece together that Coal's movements only made sense if he was ignoring that cut. "You're cape somehow negates the effect of my shikai form's ability, doesn't it?" Grim more stated than asked.

Coal calmly explained "My cape keeps reiatsu I lose from escaping to the outside. That's why you can't feel my reiatsu right now. It builds up in my cape surrounding my body. My cape then causes my body to reabsorb my own reiatsu. This cycle constantly continues meaning even as I leak reiatsu I gain it back. This not only renders your ability inconsequential but also allows me to maintain my bankai for unprecedented lengths of time since I'm actually slowly gaining reiatsu while using my bankai instead of losing it."

Grim was starting to get very annoyed. He had hoped to finish this without releasing his own bankai but it seemed that was unlikely. At that moment however his thoughts were interrupted by Ichigo appearing less than 6' away and Nicole appearing next to him. Nicole asked "How is your fight going Grim? We could always switch to two-on-two if you want. That way you may not have to resort to using your bankai."

Grim answer with no doubt in his voice "No. I made a deal with Coal that we would let Eve and Elle fight one-on-one and then fight one-on-one ourselves. I intend to follow that deal through even if it does mean releasing my bankai." On one hand Coal could sense Grim's reluctance to release his bankai, but on the other hand when Grim said the word 'bankai' Coal could swear he saw something devilish in Grim's eyes.

As Nicole and Grim fell into a heavy silence, Ichigo turned to Coal "So you are the new captain of the 9th squad I assume."

"Yes I am. I've only heard the name Ichigo in passing. Who exactly are you?" Coal asked confused.

Ichigo answered "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami. I would explain more but I don't think we really have time."

"Fair enough." Coal said turning his attention back to Grim.

"Well Ichigo shall we finish our fight over there." Nicole said pointing to the far side of the arena "We'll try to keep out of your guy's way as long as you try to keep out of ours."

Ichigo and Nicole were at the other side of the arena in the blink of an eye. As they resumed their fight Coal and Grim simply stood watching them. Coal wasn't sure if he wanted to know why Grim seemed to be avoiding his own bankai and wanted time to think it out. Grim simply wanted to put off the evitable a little longer.

Ichigo in the mean time was still unable to keep up with Nicole who he suspected was merely playing with him. Ichigo knew he had no other option now. He was gathering his energy to release his bankai when Nicole suddenly stopped moving and looked towards the side of the arena. Ichigo paused and followed her gaze. He found a man in a red and white striped hat walking toward them. "I wondered if it was you they referred to when they said Nicole." Urahara said without a hint of his normal carefree manner.

"Well this makes things more difficult." Nicole said as if it were a minor annoyance "I'll probably have to fight my hardest to beat both of you."

"You think you can beat both of us." Urahara said "A little over confident don't you think. Have you forgotten how strong I am?"

"I think you are forgetting that we aren't standing in your basement, Urahara." Nicole answered briskly "And I'm in a whole different league from where I was when I left your shop."

"Really?" Urahara said with an air of not being convinced.

Ichigo couldn't see what happened next, only an incredibly fast blue blur. One moment Nicole was facing him, the next Urahara had a cut through his left shoulder. Urahara had managed to draw but had failed to block the attack. Urahara managed to block the second and third attacks though he was clearly strained to do so. Ichigo shot in to intervene but Nicole was gone before he got there. The two stood staring up the stands at a girl who made both their speeds seem inadequate. As Urahara stood looking up at her he said "I admit I did not expect her speed to have reached such heights. I think she is even faster than Yoruichi."

"Well if Yoruichi could stand I would say Nicole should go play tag with her. It would probably be good for her to lose sometimes." Ichigo had no idea where the thought came from but he had to say it. Ichigo and Urahara broke down laughing for a moment while Nicole looked on bemused.

Nicole waited for them to stop laughing before saying "Well anyways I've decide to let you off the hook Urahara since you've done so much for me in the past."

"What makes you think we'll let you walk away?" Urahara asked regaining his seriousness.

"Neither of you can catch me. You wouldn't be able to stop me from leaving." Nicole answered simply "Just do me one favor; stay out of the fight over there. They seem intent on finishing it one-on-one." Nicole looked over at Grim and Coal. Neither of them had done anything since her and Ichigo interrupted them.

Coal spoke at last "You don't like your bankai, do you?"

Grim answered "No I like it too much. It overwhelms me and I get lost in it….."

Coal paused "What do you mean?"

Grim's face cracked into a smile that was outright disturbing "You'll know soon enough."

It was night now. The air was calm and cool. As Grim stared at him Coal knew this calm was simply the eye of a hurricane. He could see the monster more clearly than ever before in Grim's dark brown eyes. It was coming now. The real monster was nearly upon him. Grim spoke the single word calmly but with something truly sinister in his voice "Bankai."

**Note from the author: You know I can never be mad at other authors for ending in cliffies since I use so many. Oh well, I'm kinda sorry about my liberal use of cliffies but not sorry enough to stop…..**


	19. Insurmountable Bloodlust

**Chapter 19: Insurmountable Bloodlust**

The battle field was covered in an eerie, unnatural mist. Grim emerged wearing a loose, flowing black hooded cloak whose edges were torn and ragged. The coat further appeared worn and slightly faded. It also appeared to be lightly stained in many places with what Coal guessed was blood. Around Grim's waist was a simple black cord though the ends of the cord were small silver skulls. On Grim's left shoulder there was the hexagonal metal base of a soul chain. From this base extended four chains that went over Grim's shoulder forming a make shift shoulder guard. Grim's scythe now had a long gray shaft. On one end it had three rows of tiny skulls before a spike erupted from the end. The scythe end had a large disk which had 12 holes around the edge. From one side of the disk the scythe itself protruded. Its blade was larger than Grim's shikai scythe and seemed to have a red edge to the blade as if someone had run their finger along the blade leaving a thin coat of blood. From the other side of the disk were three spikes. Grim's eyes had turned red though you could barely tell since his hood cast a shadow over his face making it difficult to see anything other than his skull mask. When Grim spoke his voice was more like a growl than anything "This is the true form and will of my _**Animae Messoris**_ (**Spirit Reaper**), this is my bankai, _Libido Nam Crouris_. (Bloodlust)"

As Grim readied his scythe he suddenly spoke forcefully "The Clock Strikes One!" Suddenly a blue fire, not chaos fire but normal blue fire, lit in the whole corresponding to where the 1 is on a clock. This seemed to awaken his reiatsu. His reiatsu was massively imposing. Ichigo who was now sitting in the stands was strongly reminded of the first time he met Kenpachi. Not only was it powerful but furthermore it had an air of sheer killing intent in it.

Coal barely had time to say "I have the strangest feeling this is going to be a long fight." before Grim exploded forward, scythe raised. Coal pulled back warily, unsure whether Grim could pierce his cape or not. Since Coal was the faster of the two combatants he easily avoided the slash but as he did he felt Grim's reiatsu rise a little. Grim lunged at Coal a second time. Coal pulled back just enough that Grim's slash should have hit his cape without being any danger to him. To Coal's surprise he found that Grim was faster than before and slashed his cape hard. Coal's cape held just barely but Grim's reiatsu grew further still. Coal was starting to have a very bad feeling about Grim's bankai.

In the stands what Coal suspected was being confirmed. "_Libido Nam Crouris_ means Bloodlust and that is what his bankai is driven by. If he fails to cut you, he wants to cut you more. If you dodge him, his speed increases in order to cut you. If you block his attack his attack will become even stronger in order to cut you." Nicole said in a grim tone "And if he cuts you, he wants to cut you again even more. His bloodlust is so relentless not even he can truly control it once he really gets going."

Eve, Ichigo, and Kisuke stared at her apprehensively for a moment. "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!?!" Ichigo yelled in confusion. Indeed Nicole was sitting on the other side of Eve from Ichigo. Ichigo simply hadn't noticed until she spoke.

Eve simply ignored Ichigo. "So Grim's bankai is just going to keep getting stronger but what, may I ask, is the deal with him saying 'the clock strikes one'?" Eve asked.

"You'll find out." Nicole said in a dark voice.

Almost as if to acknowledge Eve's question Grim called out "The Clock Strikes Two!" As the second hole in Grim's scythe lit his reiatsu increased dramatically. Coal had already expected this having heard Nicole talking to Eve. Coal quickly surmised how the rest of this battle would proceed: Grim's bankai would continue to increase in power until it managed to kill him but every time it tried to kill him his cape's defense would increase to counter it. The only question was 'which would increase faster?'

Grim came at Coal once more. Coal noted that Grim's eyes seemed to glow faintly as he allowed Grim's first attack only to graze his cape. Grim attacked again his scythe longing to cut Coal. Coal took the attack head on. Grim's scythe went through Coal's cape with some difficulty but was blocked by Coal's sword beneath the cape. Grim was looking very annoyed as his eyes seemed to glow a little brighter. "The bloodlust that is your bankai consumes you, doesn't it?" Coal cautiously inquired pulling back a little "You hold down your lust to reap souls most of the time but when you release your bankai it overwhelms you. Your bankai lets loose the monster you hold inside."

Grim simply answered "yes" in a low growl as he attacked again.

Grim's attack failed to pierce Coal's cape this time, serving increasing Grim's bloodlust further. Coal replied "Sheer bloodlust won't be enough to defeat me." Coal pulled back unveiling the kido hidden in his cape "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai(White lightning)". Grim had been too eager to pursue and the kido injured him in his lower left abdomen. The damage dealt by the kido surprised Grim since his reiatsu was quite powerful at this point and it was such a low level kido. Coal had noticed something as well: Grim's reiatsu had decreased a bit. "I was wondering what would happen if I injured you. So your bloodlust can be reduced."

"But at the price of the countdown speeding up." Grim said darkly. Coal didn't get a chance to ask before Grim was upon him again. As Grim stabbed with the spike at the bottom of his scythe he spoke again "But I wasn't the only one with another secret. You failed to mention that cape of yours increases the power of your kidos."

Coal had only allowed the stab to graze him and attempted to counter with his sword. "The area within my cape is oversaturated with my reiatsu." Coal said as Grim easily blocked his attack with the shaft of his weapon, shoving Coal backwards. As Coal regained his footing he continued "That makes the area in my cape ideal for forming kido."

"So not only should the power of his kido attacks increase" Urahara proceeded to surmise up in the stands "but also how fast and efficiently he can form them. He also can probably use kido's while in bankai he normally couldn't."

"Indeed you are correct." Eve confirmed cheerfully. Things were looking up now that Coal had found a way to reduce Grim's reiatsu. Eve had been getting worried.

Grim raised his scythe and called "_Trucido Falx_ (Slaying Scythe)". Coal dodged the attack and called "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" in response. Grim dodged and yelled "The Clock Strikes Three. It's time for the real fun to begin." As Grim's reiatsu made another jump Coal was fairly certain he knew what the countdown was now. There had been less time between two and three than there had been between one and two. Grim raised his hand, clawed as if he was holding something with only his figure tips, and blue ball formed in his grasp. Grim called "_Animae Vinculum_ (Spirit Chain)" and a blue beam shot out of his hand. Coal dodged left having a bad feeling about the odd energy within the attack. Grim flicked his wrist however and the attack curved to try and follow him. The attack hit Coal's cape but had no effect. Coal surmised the attack must have failed based on the angry sneer on Grim's face. Grim charged again. Coal blocked his first attack, though it nearly pierced his cape, but Grim hooked his scythe around Coal's back with the second attack. Coal realized the attack wasn't supposed to hurt him but keep from escaping. Coal quickly stabbed Grim with his sword through his left pectoral muscle but this turned out to be a mistake. The blue energy ball had appeared in Grim's hand once more. Grim yelled "_Animae Vinculum_" once more and the attack hit Coal's extended arm.

Grim released Coal and pulled back but as he did a blue connection of energy remained between them. Coal felt the strange energy moving through his body though he had no idea what it was doing. Grim pressed the ball of energy to his chest and the blue bond moved from Coal's arm to his chest. Then, to Coal's alarm, a hexagonal metal base of a soul chain formed on his chest though the base was mostly black with the design in the middle being blue as opposed to the silver of a normal spirit chain. A similar base had appeared on Grim's chest though his had red in place of blue. Then a chain shot from Coal's base as simultaneously a chain shot from Grim's base. Coal could feel that his chain was being forcefully formed from his spirit pressure. The chain followed the path of the blue bond connecting Grim and Coal until they linked in the middle. The blue energy faded and the chain fell so it hung between them. The chain was clearly divided halfway between them. Coal's chain was black with blue swirls while Grim's chain was black with a red droplet designs on it. The chain that now connected their chest was about only about 12 feet long.

Coal stared for a moment at this strange turn of events thinking about what it meant. It seemed the purpose of the chain was to keep this battle at a short range. It made sense since this meant Grim's opponent/prey couldn't escape which fit his style. This would make the battle difficult since this left Coal no option but to fight Grim at close range. This put Grim at the clear advantage since his bankai's scythe was nearly 6' long. While all this was alarming it paled in comparison to what was on Coal's sword: Nothing at all. Coal had nearly run Grim through and there wasn't a single drop of blood on his sword. Grim's cut wasn't bleeding either. Coal then noticed the wound from his Byakurai was nearly gone meaning Grim must have elevated healing as well. It seemed though injuring Grim reduced his reiatsu it didn't do much else. Coal should have pierced Grim's lung but Grim's breathing wasn't strained at all. In fact, now that Coal thought about it, except when Grim was talking he didn't seem to be breathing at all!

Grim suddenly grabbed the chain linking them and pulled on it hard. Coal was violently dragged forward by his chest pulling him off his feet and toward Grim in midair. Grim charged immediately, aiming for the part in Coal's cape held open by the chain. Coal rammed his sword into the ground to both stop himself and return himself to solid ground. As Coal landed on the ground he blocked Grim's attack with his cape. Having his reiatsu reduced by being stabbed Grim couldn't pierce Coal's cape. Coal pulled his sword free bringing it low to stab Grim but to his surprise Grim whipped the chain around his sword disrupting Coal's attack and wrapping his sword in the chain. Grim quickly rammed the spike at the end of his scythe into the chain forcing it suddenly to the ground. This pulled Coal to the ground awkwardly by his right arm. Grim raised his scythe yelling "The Clock Strikes Four!" Grim, in possession of new found power, brought his scythe down with all his might going through Coal's cape and cutting into Coal's left shoulder. Coal winced and loosened his grip on his sword. Grim thinking his moment had come raised his scythe again but Coal's left arm emerged from the cape as Coal yelled "Way of Destruction 88 Hiryugekizokushintenraiho (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)". Reacting quickly Grim had already yelled "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis (Repulse)". Grim's kido weakened the attack but was ultimately overwhelmed by Coal's massive kido. Grim flew backward as Coal gripped his sword again but before Coal could get up he was dragged suddenly since he was still attached to Grim by the chain. A moment later Grim and Coal had both come to a halt lying on the ground.

Coal staggered to his feet and faced Grim who was doing the same. The fact that Grim was able to stand was surprising having taken a level 88 kido even if it had been partially blocked by his own kido. Even then with that much damage his reiatsu had dropped dramatically. "So as far as I can tell you are essentially undead while in your bankai." Coal reasoned breathing hard "But if I can reduce your reiatsu to the point where you can no longer maintain your bankai you'll return to normal and I can kill you."

"**If **you can reduce my reiatsu to that point" Grim answered smirking.

"I think I've made a good start at it." Coal answered.

Grim smiled deviously "The Clock Strikes Five." His reiatsu increased again making up for over half of the reiatsu he just lost.

"This just keeps getting better and better." Coal said a little exasperated as he prepared himself for another scrimmage. Grim moved in quickly but before he could even get halfway Coal had already called "Way of Chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas (Fire Storm)". Grim shot left but was grazed by the attack none the less. Grim answered with _Trucido Falx_ which Coal side stepped. Grim advanced again swinging his scythe wide. Coal repelled the attack with his cape increasing both his defense and Grim's reiatsu. Coal then tried to pull back to a safer distance but instead made a startling discovery: the chain connecting him and Grim had gotten shorter. Grim's side of the chain had somehow gone from 6'to 2' giving the chain a total length of only 8 feet. Grim hooked his scythe around the chain so it circled his scythes blade and pulled back his weapon. Coal was dragged towards Grim but he managed to keep his balance. Grim finished pulling his scythe back behind him as if he was going to swing but instead stabbed with the other end of his weapon. Coal was only about a foot from the tip and quickly moved his sword to cover the opening in his cape. Grim stabbed repeatedly and Coal without fail blocked each of his attacks but with each block Grim's reiatsu grew. Coal had to put an end to Grim's barrage before Grim's reiatsu got too high and he chose kido as his method for doing so. "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis" Coal called forcing Grim to pull back and loose the chain from his scythe allowing it to go slack once more.

Coal stared at the chain in confusion. The Chain was now about 10 feet long in total meaning Grim's side had gotten longer but not as long as it was at the start. "Would you like me to explain my _Animae Vinculum_?" Grim asked tauntingly.

"Yes, I would as it happens." Coal admitted.

"I suppose I can hold my urge to kill you back for a moment or two while I explain." Grim said deviously "You see the chain is made from our reiatsu. This means by forcing reiatsu into the chain you can add links to your half of the chain." Coal immediately tried this with a little of his reiatsu and a few links came out of his chest. "See" Grim said continuing "but I'm sure you've noticed there is no way to get that reiatsu back. There is a way to shorten the chain, however: You can condense the reiatsu in the chain into fewer links. This is not without its price. You can't stretch the reiatsu back out once you've condensed it. Also since every link in the chain must have the same energy if you wish to lengthen the chain after that it will take more reiatsu to get the same number of links."

Things were worse than Coal thought. This meant whoever had more reiatsu had the clear advantage in this game. Coal's reiatsu was less than Grim's at this point and Grim's reiatsu kept growing. This fight was getting worse all the time. Coal would have to fight all out to win this. Usually Coal would hold out and let his defense buildup preferring to wear his opponent down slowly. Due to his bankai's ability to keep his reiatsu in he could maintain such a stance for a long time. In this fight however Grim's attack power would keep rising and from what Coal could tell it was rising faster with each count on the clock. Coal had to beat Grim before Grim's strength became unstoppable. "I guess it's time to give this fight my all." Coal said with a sigh.

Grim looked at him for a moment and said "So you are finally going to show me what you can really do? I've been wondering why someone renowned as a master of kido was using so little. I'm glad you realize the magnitude of the situation." Grim chuckled a bit under his breath. Grim's eyes were glowing a little brighter now. Grim roared "The Clock Strikes Six!" As the sixth hole lit and Grim's reiatsu rose Coal prepared for the worse. Coal felt like the world had become uneasy. The silence of the moment felt like the scream of someone dying. The light mist Grim's bankai had lowered on the field seemed to stir in response to the coming battle. Then Coal paused for a moment in alarm as he realized that the mist stirring wasn't just his imagination!

**Note from the Author: The cliffhangers just keep coming.**


	20. Death and Oblivion

**Chapter 20: Death and Oblivion**

The eerie mist was moving as if there were invisible people gliding through it slowly. Coal could tell that things were about to become unpleasant and decided to make the first move before Grim could do anything. Coal focused more reiatsu into his chain and extended his side of the chain to about 9' giving it a total length of about 13'. Coal would have extended it further but he did not want to sacrifice too much reiatsu to the task. Coal sheathed his sword within his cape though you couldn't really tell from the outside. He wasn't sure if he what he was about to charge into but he was going to have to take his chances.

Coal's left hand emerged from his cape as he yelled "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". Grim dodged right and came at Coal. The invisible beings followed Grim quickly. Coal pulled away calling "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (White Lightning)" which flew from right hand. Grim pull left around the kido and continued his pursuit. Grim was drawing near when Coal flung his cape wide open and to reveal he now held a kido in each hand. But before Coal could launch his kidos he was interrupted by one of the spirit like beings rushing through him. It was as if he suddenly was dunked in ice water and his twin kidos collapsed as the flow of energy through his body seemed to momentarily halt. It only lasted an instant, not even a whole second but it felt like much longer. It wasn't painful but rather like he was shutting down, like his body was ceasing to function, almost like going unconscious but in a way where you would never awaken. But as quickly as it came it went and he found that he was falling to the ground. Coal caught himself just barely managing to remain upright, reflexively closing his cape around him as he did so. Grim was upon him a moment later. Coal still felt slightly out of it as Grim stabbed with the spike end of his scythe at the break in Coal's cape. Coal swung the left side of his cape in the way still functioning more on reflex than conscious thought. Grim grabbed and whipped the chain sideways forcing Coal's cape to open again. Coal however had regain enough of his senses to have a kido waiting beneath his cape and cried "Way of Chaos 15 Ignis Spherae (Fire Sphere)" Grim pulled back quickly barely avoiding the kido.

Coal was glad Grim couldn't see his face because he had to look pale. He had been in a cold sweat for the moment after the attack wore off as if he had suddenly awakened from a nightmare. "_Moestus Visio_ (Grim Visage)" Grim said causing Coal to tense ready for an attack. "It's the name of this ability." Grim continued "It makes you feel like you're dying for a moment. Your resistance to it is pretty good though far from exceptional. Still you managed to remain standing."

* * *

"More than I could do." Nicole said turning to Eve "The first time he hit me with that attack I collapsed. Those who are weaker in mind or reiatsu may lose consciousness."

"What an eerie ability." Eve said "How do you defend against such an attack?"

"If you know it's coming you can ready yourself for it to an extent." Nicole said "Santri is highly resistant to it due to his circumstances. Alice takes it a little better than Coal. Ignotus can completely ignore it, if it affects him he certainly doesn't show it."

"So that means it's a mental attack, I mean going off the fact that Santri has a high resistance to it." Eve answered returning her attention to the battle. Nicole had to admit Eve had caught on to the trick behind Grim's attack quickly. Grim's attack actually had no physical effects at all. _Moestus Visio _was a purely mental attack; any physical effects were all in your head.

* * *

Down below the battle had resumed. "The Clock Strikes Seven" Grim cried menacingly. Grim reiatsu was more monsterous than ever now. Coal knew he had to do something about Grim's reiatsu immediately; it was time to cut loose. "Way of Fusion 64 Astrum Pulvia (Star Rain)" Coal called out as a ball of shining white energy emerged from his cape. The ball let loose a barrage of hundreds of tiny needle like shots of light over a wide area. The tiny attacks burst into tiny explosions of chaos fire on contact with anything solid. Grim was too slow to react and was riddled with the tiny attacks. Coal called "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" refusing to give Grim time to recover. Grim managed to yell "_Trucido Falx_ (Slaying Scythe)" cutting Coal's kido in two, destroying it. Coal readied another kido but as he opened his cape to fire it _Moestus Visio _struck. Coal was lost in the crippling sensation once more. Grim pulled the chain connecting them as hard as he could. Coal flew at Grim struggling to refocus his mind after Grim's attack. Grim brought his scythe through the opening in Coal's cape and shallowly cut into Coal's upper left chest, pushing him into the ground. The pain snapped Coal fully back to his senses. Coal grabbed the scythe with his left hand pulling it free of his chest. With his right hand Coal let loose a kido as he returned himself to a kneeling position. "Way of Fusion 34 Turbo Vis (Whirling Force)". There was an odd spiraling nearly invisible distortion in front of Coal. Grim spun sideways while being lifted off the ground and being pushed away. Coal followed with "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai" hitting Grim in midair in the center of his abdominal muscles. Coal held his ground to be sure not to be dragged by Grim so that Grim instead came to a violent stop when the chain was fully extended before falling to ground with a thud and the clanking of chains.

Grim got to his feet quickly. "I was wondering when you would begin using fusion kido." Grim muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Those kidos he just used were a combination of normal and chaos kido, correct?" Urahara asked Eve.

"Yeah it's difficult to use but while in bankai Coal can perform it." Eve explain "Some of the higher up order members can perform it also. Its strength's number is on the same scale as normal kido. It many times will have strange effects. Turbo Vis for instance is actually a warping of gravity rather than something physical."

* * *

Grim yelled "I'm not done yet. The Clock Strikes Eight!" Grim's reiatsu increase further still.

Coal had to admit that this was getting bad. Grim's last attack had grazed his lung. While Coal did have fusion kido on his side it was mentally exhausting to create. He felt a little light headed and he was sure Grim's _Moestus Visio _hadn't helped anything. Meanwhile Grim continued to get stronger. Though he probably still wasn't strong enough to pierce Coal's cape, it was only a matter of time. The whole situation was absolutely exhausting.

Grim came at Coal again. Coal could see the bloodlust in his glowing red eyes. Coal ducked low below Grim's high slash. Coal's hand emerge to counter but Grim change the direction of his scythe quickly forcing Coal to withdraw his hand to avoid having it cut off. Coal opened his cape to attack once more but _Moestus Visio _struck again. Grim stabbed at Coal with the spike end of his spike entered Coal's chest on the lower right but due to Coal pulling back quickly it wasn't very deep. Coal noticed he had managed to recover from _Moestus Visio_ quicker this time. It seemed like being exposed to the attack repeatedly was lessening the effect. As Grim came at him again Coal focused hard and called "Way of Fusion 43 Quietus Leo (Sleeping Lion)". A nearly completely transparent golden shield formed in the shape of a fourth of a dome. As Grim cut through it with his scythe the shield reacted with by degrading into a rush of golden energy. The counter attack did relatively little damage but had still pushed Grim back away from Coal. As the shield faded Coal followed with "Way of Chaos 34 ignis Tempestas (Fire Storm)". Grim partially dodged the attack only taking the outer edge of it. "_Trucido Falx_" Grim responded Coal's cape took the attack as Grim's urge to draw blood grew ever higher.

"The Clock Strikes Nine." Grim cried gleefully. Grim's reiatsu was incredible now. Ichigo suspected it was around the level of Kenpachi without his eye-patch. "Fool I am a messenger death you cannot kill me. Now I shall show you true terror. You'll be torn apart from both the inside and the outside, _Penitus Campus Incursio _(Inner Plain Invasion)." Grim touched his scythe to the chain and Coal felt an ominous presence move through the chain.

* * *

A cloaked figure rushed down a tunnel. As he reached the end of the tunnel his red eyes surveyed the new territory. He had entered a room without a ceiling but with 20 foot high stone walls. The room opened up to a starry night sky. There were three identical stone passages that went off in various directions from the room. The figure glanced down the passages and quickly grasped what this place was. "It's a labyrinth." He said clearly annoyed "What kind of person has a labyrinth for an inner world?"

"What kind of person can enter other people's inner worlds?" said a dark figure as he entered the room from one of the passage. The newcomer wore black, light weight armor over most of his body. The armor had spikes on it in various places. He wore a helmet that resembled Coal's mask. "Or perhaps person isn't the right word. I would guess that you are in fact a fellow zanpakto."

"_**Animae Messoris**_ (**Spirit Reaper**) I'm Grim's zanpakto as I'm sure you've guessed." The cloaked figure answered with a smile as a scythe identical to Grim's shikai form scythe appeared in his hand. "Now you will quench my bloodlust!" _**Animae Messoris**_ charged wildly, his eyes glowing red. _**Atrum Custos**_ (**Dark Gaurdian**) raised his shield which had appeared out of nowhere to block the attack. The armored one then countered with his sword, stabbing around the shield.

* * *

"Can you feel the battle going on within you?" Grim cried bringing his scythe down hard.

"You sent your zanpakto into my inner world through the chain." Coal responded moving sideways so the scythe only caught the edge of the cape. Coal countered calling "Way of Destruction 63 Raikoho (Thunder Roar Cannon)". Grim took a fair half of the kido despite his best efforts. "I admit your chain holds more surprises than I thought."

Grim responded with a sneer "That's not all. It also allows me to reap a far higher amount of your reiatsu when I kill you. You see at your portion of the chain is made from your reiatsu and the base on your chest is made from part of your core energy. When you die it will detach, allowing me to absorb it on top of what I would usually reap." Grim came at Coal again. Coal gave a sigh of exasperation and moved to meet Grim once more.

* * *

The battle in Coal's inner world was quickly getting on _**Animae Messoris**_' nerves. His opponent had disappeared into the labyrinth and kept coming out from behind corners suddenly. On top of that it was difficult to strike around a large shield in the 8' wide passages. Attacking other people's inner worlds was always difficult but this was ridiculous. On top of that he couldn't use bankai while Grim was using it but of course the same went for his opponent. His job was to injure _**Atrum Custos**_ badly enough so that he temporarily faded from existence. At that point Coal would lose his bankai and the outer battle would be all but decided.

_**Animae Messoris **_rounded a corner and found his opponent waiting for him. _**Atrum Custos**_ rammed his shield into his opponent hard. _**Animae Messoris**_ was thrown back but managed to recover and counter attacked trying to get under the shield. _**Atrum Custos**_ pulled back however not allowing the scythe to get even close to him. As his opponent disappeared around another corner _**Animae Messoris **_cursed his opponent and attempted to give chase.

* * *

On the outside Coal and Grim's battle raged on. Grim swung at Coal again but Coal blocked his attack with his cape. Coal's defense was still superior to Grim's attack though it wouldn't last long. It was only a matter of time before 'The Clock Struck Ten' and Grim's attack grew high enough to pierce Coal's bankai once more. On top of that Coal still couldn't seem to make any progress towards defeating Grim. There was also the worrisome realization that Grim had gained new abilities at 3, 6, and 9 meaning he probably had a final ability waiting at 12. Coal decided that it was preferable that he never found out what that ability was.

"The Clock Strikes Ten." As the tenth hole lit Coal knew his defenses were most likely no longer enough. Coal began to search his mind in vain for a way to repel Grim's every growing strength.

* * *

In the stands Nicole's hand moved to her sword. The other's eyes darted to her. "Grim is starting to lose it." Nicole offered in explanation "Once he fully loses control he will truly be a monster. Furthermore friend or foe doesn't really make a difference to him at that point."

"Why do you look worried you should be able to beat him?" Eve said "You are ranked above him so that means you must defeat him over half the time."

"Hmmmm?" Urahara made a noise implying a question.

"The only way to increase your rank in the order" Eve explained quickly "is to have won 3 of your last 4 fights with the person ranked above you. Since Nicole, ranked 4th, outranks Grim, ranked 5th, by one rank, the person Grim challenges to try and increase his rank is Nicole. That means she probably commonly fights him."

"I beat him almost all the time actually. However, I usually don't allow 'The Clock to Strike Three', none the less ten or eleven." Nicole answered darkly "I am still almost sure to beat him right now but if 'The Clock Strikes Midnight' it will be touch and go. I think due to the circumstances I will be able to beat him but even then I think it is best that I'm ready for it." Nicole looked a little worried as she said the last sentence more to herself than to the others. Eve wondered what circumstances Nicole was referring to.

* * *

Within Coal _**Animae Messoris**_ had found a large circular room which he suspected to be the center of the maze. It was a fair 60' across and had a circular hole in the middle of it that was about 30' feet across. This left a 15 foot wide path around the edge of the room. Floating about 20 feet above the hole was a glowing blue sphere about 20 feet in diameter. _**Animae Messoris**_' senses told him this was Coal's core energy. On the opposite side of the room stood _**Atrum Custos**_.

"You've led me here on purpose." _**Animae Messoris **_stated with a growl "Why?"

"To toss you into the pit." _**Atrum Custos **_said gesturing toward the hole "Once you fall into the pit it will most likely take you at least a day to get out. When your master dies so will you and your master will die long before you escape the pit."

"First you have to get me into the pit." The cloak on sneered "And he isn't my master."

"What do you mean he isn't your master?" _**Atrum Custus**_ asked as his opponent moved to attack him.

As the reaper moved around the outer edge of the room he replied "He didn't subjugate me. I subjugated him."

The reaper's scythe collided with a great black shield and _**Animae Messoris**_ then quickly retreated to evade the inevitable counter attack. "You see though he failed to subjugate me thanks to my bloodlust and the power I gained from reaping the souls, I was able to push through and obtain bankai despite this!"

* * *

Grim's power had grown intense. Grim cut clean through Coal's cape though Coal managed to block the attack with his sword hidden beneath. Coal quickly yelled "Way of Chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas" hitting Grim in the chest point blank. Grim was forced back but his huge reiatsu had reduced the damage a surprising amount.

Grim screamed "I'll destroy you and all of the seireitei fool, you can't defeat Me." and Grim rushed forward again his madness seemingly greater than ever. Coal called "Way of Fusion 43 Quietus Leo" deflecting Grim once more. Grim would not be deterred calling "_Trucido Falx_" upon regaining his footing. Coal pulled sideways as the attack cut off a large portion of his cape. Grim came at him as his cape was still healing. Before Coal's cape could fully heal _Moestus Visio_struck. The petrifying feeling was horrible but Coal endured knowing it would end. Grim slashed at Coal's cape once more but the cape managed to hold his attack back. Coal yelled "Way of Chaos 27 Atrox Ocis (Repulse)". Grim was hit with the burst of chaos fire reducing his reiatsu. When Grim was once more stably on his feet he was smiling disturbingly.

Grim spoke in a maniac voice "You've realized you can't win haven't you. You can hold out but it's only a matter of time." Grim laughed "By the way, there will be no use in trying to reason with me from here on out. From here on out I am but a vessel of death that shall consume all of the seireitei. The Clock Strikes Eleven!" His reiatsu was overwhelming. It seemed to incur a feeling of impending doom and despair on all those in the area.

* * *

On the front lines Toshiro asked Byakuya "Who do you suppose that is?" feeling the massive reiatsu.

Byakuya thought for a moment and replied "It feels like an order member I fought earlier but he was only ranked 5th. I can't imagine that the 5th strongest order member has such monstrous reiatsu."

* * *

Alice turned to Ignotus "Do you think one of us should go and help Nicole, just in case Grim runs out of other people to kill."

"She'll probably be fine but I suppose we should play it safe having already lost two out of the nine of us." Ignotus replied "Ok winner goes and gets to stretch their legs."

"Paper, Scissors, Rock!"

* * *

Back within Coal's inner world, _**Atrum Custos **_was still in close combat with _**Animae Messoris**_ on the edge of the pit. The reaper slid the blunt end of his scythe past the shield and rammed the guardian in the stomach. The shadowy guardian was forced towards the pit but he rammed the bottom spike on his shield into the ground in order to stop himself. "You almost fell into the pit." _**Animae Messoris **_pointed out "Don't you see, you will not defeat me and Coal will not defeat Grim."

* * *

Coal dodged Grim's furious attack. As Coal looked him in the eye he could see no humanity in the brightly glowing red eyes. Grim quickly pursued Coal. Coal could barely see straight after the stressful battle. The fusion kido, Grim's _Moestus Visio_, and blood loss had taken so much out of him. Coal reacted to slow having forgotten Grim's speed would increase when he dodged Grim's attack. The slash cut though Coal's cape and into his left side. Coal pulled back breathing heavily. "At last I will quench my bloodlust if only for a moment." Grim said longingly.

* * *

_**Atrum Custos **_stood with his back to the edge of the pit facing the reaper. "You're wrong on both accounts _**Animae Messoris**_." _**Atrum Custos**_ replied "Grim seeks nothing but destruction, Coal will not allow such a person to walk away and neither will I." The reaper slashed at his opponent with a hard downward slash in annoyance. The attack was blocked by the shield bearing warrior who then charged. The reaper blocked the attack but failed to notice the bottom spike of the shield that swiped his feet out from under him. The reaper rolled to his feet quickly with his back now to the pit. _**Atrum Custos **_said "This ends now." The guardian rushed forward ramming _**Animae Messoris**_ with his shield. The reaper fell backwards and tumbled into the pit.

* * *

Coal was thrown into the wall of the arena having been swung around by the chain attached to his chest. He managed to make it to his knee and spoke to the monster that was slowly walking towards him "You really are nothing but a bloodlust crazed, monster now. I can't allow such a creature to run free."

* * *

_**Atrum Custos **_walked to the edge of the pit and looked down at _**Animae Messoris**_ who had rammed his scythe into the wall to keep from falling. Above them slowly small pieces of the blue energy ball started to come off. _**Animae Messoris**_ looked at the ball for a moment before asking "What's going on? Why is some of his core energy coming off?"

* * *

Coal forcefully fused chaos and normal kido beneath his cape using a bit of his very soul as a catalyst. He knew he would most likely be distinctly weakened for a week or so and permanently weakened to an extent by doing such a thing.

* * *

_**Atrum Custos **_answered "Coal will do anything to defeat Grim. He will do all he can to defend those around him, even injure his soul. That's why Coal won't lose to the likes of Grim." _**Atrum Custos**_ walked away as the floor cracked and _**Animae Messoris **_fell into the darkness of the pit.

* * *

"You act like you can stop me," Grim answered half laughing "don't you see that I am an agent of death? Death itself is my ally so you will not be able to kill me. My reiastu is simply too massive to be destroyed by you so you cannot destroy my bankai. I assure you this fight will end when 'The Clock Strikes Midnight' and nothing you can do will change that."

"Perhaps you are right but that doesn't mean you have won." Coal said rising his feet "If you seek to kill all those within the seireitei then I shall make sure you never reach them. If you have so much reiatsu that I can't overcome it then I shall reduce you to a point where your reiatsu is of no use." Coal's cape opened as if it was flowing in the wind revealing the shining, opalescent orb that was his kido. "If death is your ally then I shall send you somewhere death itself cannot help you!" Grim stopped dead in shock; he could feel the massive power contained within the kido. "I'll send you beyond death! I'll send you strait into non-existence!" Coal yelled "Way of Fusion 174" Grim's eyes went wide with horror upon hearing the number "DECORUS OBLIVIO (Beautiful Oblivion)."

A shining beam of energy rushed forward from the near blinding orb. As the energy rushed into Grim's body he convulsed in alarm and pain. Grim dropped his scythe, which stuck in the ground behind him, as his skin started to crack all over revealing opalescent energy shining through. As the energy spread over his entire surface, save his mask, the base of his chain disconnected from him and the chain was dragged into Coal's body. It felt good to Coal as he regained the reiatsu contained in his portion of the spirit chain but then as Grim's section entered his body as well it hurt intensely and felt like nothing Coal had ever felt before. When the base that was formerly connected to Grim's chest was dragged into his chest as well Coal thought he might lose consciousness for a moment as he was immersed in agony. When Grim's body was completely covered by the energy he exploded into a shining rush of energy that faded into nothing.

Grim's mask fell to the ground, landing beneath Grim's scythe. Coal slowly staggered to his feet. Coal remembered Grim's words as he looked at all that remained of his opponent. Coal simply and calmly said "The Clock Strikes Midnight. This battle is over." The final hole on the scythe lit for an instant before the entire scythe turned to dust.

* * *

**Note from the author: 3 down 6 to go.**


	21. The Plot Thickens

**Chapter 21: The Plot Thickens**

Nicole stared in shock for a moment. Grim had lost to Coal. How much stronger had Coal become? What the hell was up with that kido? It didn't matter, he wouldn't be alive long enough to fight anyone else.

There was a flash of blue and Nicole slashed at Coal. Her attack glanced off his cape inconsequentially. Nicole stepped back realizing his cape must be incredibly resistant to slashing attacks after fighting Grim. Coal however was in no condition to fight back. He was barely conscious after using such a powerful fusion kido.

Ichigo and Kisuke were behind Nicole a second later. Nicole turned to Kisuke "So what did you actually come here for Urahara? I've been wondering since we sat down."

"I came to take a look at the 'Oath of Chaos'. I can't use Eve over there since she currently doesn't have the energy to release her black mask or I would have already asked." Urahara answered "I wanted to see if I could convince one of them to allow me to examine it since neither of them would allow Mayuri to take a look. I would like to know a little more about it."

"I have a feeling that means you already have a guess about what you'll find." Nicole answered hoping to bait the shop keeper into telling her more.

"I have my suspicions but I'm far from certain." Urahara answered casually "However you could help me by answering a question."

"What question?" Nicole asked defensively.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Busuchi?"Urahara asked calmly though his casualness seemed to have faded.

Nicole flinched at the mention of the name. She looked angry as she seemed to try to choose her response. "Why does it matter?" Nicole answered with a hint of agitation disrupting her normally smooth, elegant voice.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Urahara responded.

"Well regardless of why you want to know it doesn't matter." Nicole answered regaining her composer "You won't live long enough to do anything with that information."

"_Okiro __**Benihime**_ (Awaken **Crimson Princess**)" was Urahara's only response. Nicole shot at him but her path was blocked by Urahara's _Chikasumi no Tate_ (Blood Mist Shield). She pulled back but found Ichigo was waiting behind her. Nicole did a high back flip over Ichigo's attack. Urahara said "_Nake _(Sing)" and launched a crimson blast of energy at Nicole while she was in mid-air. Nicole suddenly moved to the left while still upside-down in mid-air. Ichigo knew something was wrong now. You can't air walk in the seireitei but she had somehow maneuvered in mid-air.

Nicole landed looking at her two opponents and their released zanpakto considering her position. She sighed and said "I guess I should release my sword. _Renasci __**Saltatus Passer**_ (Be Reborn **Dancing Sparrow**)." As her sword spun in her hand there became two. Her released sword took the form was two double-edged katanas without guards. They were connected at the bottom of their hilts by a 4" in diameter, metal ring that lay in the same plain as the blades. The leading edges of the blades both pointed so that if you spun the weapon by the central ring they would both cut the same way. The entire thing was a fair 5'6" meaning it was bit taller than Nicole herself. "Now let's see how you boys handle this." Nicole said with a devious smile.

Nicole slashed at Ichigo having appeared on his left at an alarming speed. Ichigo blocked her blade but she simply pivoted the other end around towards him. Ichigo pulled back so he could block this with his blade as well. Urahara came from behind Nicole but she blocked his attack with ease. She moved back and forth between the two shinigami keeping up with both of them. Her blade seemed to dance between her hands as it smoothly flowed between attack and defense as well as from one opponent to the other showing off her incredible dexterity. She seemed to get bored of this and shot backwards out from between them. Urahara calmly said "_Nake_" and a crimson blast issued from Urahara's sword. Nicole called "Way of Binding 39 Enkosen (Arc Shield)" to block the attack. Ichigo followed with "_Getsuga Tensho _(Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)". Nicole dodged the attack with ease however. "Your ranged attacks leave a lot to be desired, they barely are enough to entertain me. You boys should stick to close quarters combat." Nicole teased "Of course that would require you to be able to keep up."

Nicole turned her sights toward the stands where Coal had rejoined Eve. Nicole decide now was not the time to take chances. She should kill Eve and, if at all possible, Coal before they could escape. In a flash Nicole was upon her prey but Eve blocked her attack. She pivoted to her left to strike Eve down with the other end of her weapon but Coal said "Way of Destruction 1 Sho (Thrust)" being all he could muster at the moment. Nicole was knocked back but regained her balance quickly. Nicole sensed a new spirit pressure and pulled back just in time to avoid Captain Hitsugaya's ice dragon. Toshiro let loose another ice dragon but Nicole was gone in a flash, reappearing to the small captain's back left. Toshiro barely managed to block her attack. Toshiro smiled as the dragon Nicole had dodged crashed down from above. Nicole quickly retreated to avoid being frozen.

Nicole paused to consider this new development. Fighting three captain level shinigami would be difficult indeed. Two might have been hard but Nicole wasn't sure if she was up for fighting three. Nicole turned to notice that a large section of the tenth squad had appeared at the top of the arena stands. It seemed things were only getting worse.

"You're cornered Nicole," Urahara said simply "there will be no escape for you."

"Hmmm that's interesting because I think the ones in trouble here are you." A deep voice boomed from the left of the tenth squad. "I've got to admit I'm surprised Grim fell, I must commend you on your victory Coal." As those present turned to face the source of the voice they found none other than Ignotus Letum. "I have many fond memories of Grim and they put me in the mood to fight." They all froze except Nicole who was next to her commander in a flash. "Now who am I killing first?!" Ignotus asked releasing his spirit pressure. All of the 10th squad members collapsed, some of them lost consciousness. His reiatsu was as intense as Grim's after 'The Clock Struck Nine' and Ignotus wasn't using bankai yet!

Coal's voice rang out through the silence "_Noctuabundus _(Traveling by Night)" Suddenly Coal's cape exploded outward becoming a great sphere of black spirit energy that surrounding Coal and his allies. A moment later the sphere collapsed, disappearing into nothing, taking everyone within it with it.

* * *

In front of the fourth squad barracks a large black sphere of energy chaotic energy formed. As it dispersed a large group of shinigami had been revealed to have appeared. Most of them were lying or sitting down looking dazed and confused. Toshiro had collapsed to one knee due to the unusual sensation of Coal's teleportation. Urahara had managed to remain upright. Ichigo was flat on his back. Several fourth squad medics came out of the barracks to investigate including Captain Unohana herself. The 4th squad leaped into action immediately having taken stock of the situation.

* * *

Coal and Eve were in a ward along with Yoruichi and Soifon about 4 hours later. All Coal and Eve's serious injuries had long since been treated and they would be up and ready to fight again in no more than 6 hours. Even then Coal was looking at another 14 hours after that before he could use bankai again since he had used _Noctuabundus_. Yoruichi was looking at a longer recovery due to her injuries being all the way down to the molecular level.

Urahara walked into the room with the familiar sounds of his clogs. "I believe you requested my presence." Urahara said directing his attention to Coal.

"I would like to know who Busuchi is." Coal said simply.

"I see, well quite honestly so would I." Urahara began "All I currently know is he was a kido corp who preformed hollowfication experiments. It seems all the central records on him are gone and I have no idea what became of him. I know about him because I read a book of his research notes while researching hollowfication though that was destroyed along with a great deal of my research when I fled the seireitei."

"And what made you think he had anything to do with this current mess?" Eve inquired.

"A drawing Yoruichi made of Sceleratus' 'Oath of Chaos'." Urahara responded pulling a drawing of the 'Oath of Chaos' out of his coat. "You see, I've seen something like this before. In Busuchi's book he mentioned the creation of a seal to attempt to help a hollowfied shinigami control their hollow self, though it failed to do so. He called this seal the 'Oath of Order' and I believe this seal is the predecessor to the 'Oath of Chaos'."

"Do you have any idea what this Busuchi looks like?" Coal asked.

"No" Urahara answered ominously "But I think we both know what I suspect. If Busuchi created the 'Oath of Order' which is the predecessor to the 'Oath of Chaos' then most likely he is also the creator of the 'Oath of Chaos'. That would mean…."

"Busuchi is Ignotus Letum." Yoruichi answered in a dark voice.

Coal however looked bewildered "But if he is a kido corp then why does he wear a 11th squad captain's haori?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Urahara said simply "But Mayuri said he looked through the records of the 11th squad captains and none of them looked like Ignotus. Furthermore the records appear to be complete. There is no evidence of any data being missing either. If he was a Captain of the 11th squad whoever removed the data did a good job of covering their tracks."

"Perhaps Captain-Commander Yamamoto would be the one to ask." Soifon suggested "He would most likely recognize Ignotus if he was a former captain."

"I would like to ask the Captain-Commander myself but he hasn't really been answering anyone since The Order of the Black Mask entered the seireitei. He seems to have distanced himself from this conflict leaving it to the lower ranks. He never says what he thinks on the conflict but simply tells you to focus on defeating them." Urahara answered annoyed "That is where I had come from when I went to find Coal and Eve. I wanted to examine 'Oath of Chaos' to see if it was related to the 'Oath of Order' and also hoping it might shed some light on this mess."

"So I suppose that means you would still like to inspect the 'Oath of Chaos'." Coal said "Well then feel free to take a look." Coal, who was wearing nothing but bandages above the waist, gestured to his left shoulder as he spoke. Urahara walked around to the side of the bed and found Coal's 'Oath of Chaos' on the side of his shoulder. Coal's mark however was different from Sceleratus'. Coal's mark had no numeral in it showing his rank and had circle around it that broke only where the flaming 'tails' of the 'Oath of Chaos' crossed it. This circle had a flowing design through it and was clearly the seal Coal had placed on the mark.

"Hmmm" Urahara was clearly thinking about something as he looked at the mark carefully "It does appear similar." Urahara put his hand out towards the mark apparently inspecting it in some way though Coal wasn't sure how. Urahara then said "I would like to take some data if you don't mind. It won't hurt."

"Go ahead." Coal answered.

Urahara then pulled out a small instrument that looked similar to a portable TV. He pressed the two antennas against Coal's skin on either side of the 'Oath of Chaos'. Urahara waited a few moments before asking "Would you release your mask?"

Coal nodded and said "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (release)". The mask formed immediately and the 'tails' on the 'Oath of Chaos' came to life. Urahara mused at the instrument for a few moments before asking "Would you perform a chaos kido please? A weak one preferably."

"Certainly" Coal said aiming his right hand at the floor "Way of Chaos 4 Ignis Pila (fire ball)". A ball of chaos fire shot from his hand.

"Good, now something a little stronger." Urahara continued.

"Way of Chaos 10 Chaos Shuriken (Chaos Shuriken)" Coal said launching a series of spinning disk of chaos fire into the ceiling.

"Finally something stronger than that but it has to be something both you and Eve can perform." Urahara said without looking away from the screen on the instrument.

Coal picked up his sword and said "Way of Chaos 39 Acrifatum (Doom Edge)" he ran his hand along his sword and it went ablaze with chaos fire. Urahara looked surprised as he maintained the kido. "Sorry." Coal said "I probably should if asked if a kido that is constantly maintained would be ok."

"No need to apologize." Urahara said with a smile "This will make for even better data than I had hoped. Ok now finally dispel that kido wait a few seconds then dispel your mask." Coal did so and a few seconds after he dispelled his mask Urahara retracted the instrument. Urahara then pushed a few buttons before turning to Eve "I would like to do the same thing on you, the more data the better."

Eve sighed heavily sitting up properly in the bed and leaning forward. "My 'Oath of Chaos' is across the small of my back." she explained when Urahara looked confused.

* * *

After Urahara had finished Eve's examination, Coal suddenly spoke up "You know I've been trying to come up with where we might find information on the order and something occurred to me." The others turned to Coal in curiosity as he continued "Grim mentioned he was imprisoned in the Maggot's Nest while I was fighting him. And now that I think about it I've heard Alice has mentioned the Maggot's Nest before as well. If Busuchi was doing hollowfication experiment he may have ended up in the maggots nest if it was before such experiments were explicitly illegal. So what if that is where this all started. What if the original order met in the Maggot's Nest."

Urahara's face lit up like Christmas. "If they were all in the Maggot's Nest then we might be able to find information on them. The Second squad keeps its own classified records separate from the main records. Then any information on their imprisonment or their escape might not have been erased."

Soifon tapped her sheathed sword, which was sitting next to her bed, on the ground twice and an Onmitsukido member appeared out of nowhere. "Search our archives for any record of any of the order members." Soifon ordered immediately.

"You should probably search by crime. Look for someone who's crime is 'harvesting of souls' or something similar." Urahara cut in "That person should appear similar to the order member know as Grim. Then search for anyone who made an escape attempt from the Maggot's Nest within two years of his own escape. Then do the same while searching for a man named Busuchi. Then meet me at the Shingami Research and Development Institute with those files. The computers there will be able to sort through it faster than someone doing it by hand and it will allow us to cross reference them with the central files. Plus I will need Mayuri's equipment to properly analyze the data I just collected from Eve and Coal."

Soifon looked livid from being overridden by Urahara but being unable to find fault with his instructions yelled "You have to your orders now go." and her subordinate disappeared.

Urahara headed for the door but paused before leaving turning to Coal and saying "Oh I almost forgot in all the excitement, Coal just in case you haven't guessed, Decorus Oblivio (Beautiful Oblivion) has officially been classified as a forbidden kido. You are asked to restrain from using it again."

"I expected as much." Coal answered "I'm lucky that all fusion kido wasn't classified as forbidden."

Urahara smiled before he turned and whisked away to Mayuri's lab.


	22. Out for a Walk

**Chapter 22: Out for a Walk**

Ignotus and Nicole had returned to the senkaimon gates. Alice had been bored while they were gone and looked happy to see them though she looked a little more somber when she noted the absence of Grim. Nicole took her position on a nearby roof top to contemplate her thoughts alone, while Ignotus walked over to discuss these recent developments with Alice. "So Grim lost" Alice said "He always was an interesting character. How did he fall?"

"According to Nicole, Grim fell in a one-on-one fight with Coal." Ignotus answered "Who would have guessed Coal would defeat Grim."

"A small mistake that looks harmless can have far reaching consequences." Alice answered thoughtfully "We are now paying the price for it."

"Indeed but It will be rectified soon enough." Ignotus answered "I'll deal with him personally."

"We have another problem however." Alice said "We are already down 3 members. We should probably regroup and adjust our strategy."

"I suppose so." Ignotus agreed "We'll send Nicole to order a temporary retreat."

"No, I'll go." Alice responded "I've been stationary to long and it is starting to bug me. I need to stretch my legs." Alice said walking toward the frontlines.

"Just don't get too distracted." Ignotus said "We should have the meeting some time before tomorrow."

Alice waved without turning around saying "I'll try." She was gone a moment later.

* * *

Alice was headed in the vague direction of the frontlines when she felt the spirit pressure of a group of shinigami. They seemed to have slipped past the frontlines and were headed for the senkaimon gates. Alice paused and considered just letting Ignotus deal with them but decided it would be more fun to do it herself. She changed course and headed after the squadron. It took her only a few minutes to catch them.

Lieutenants Omeda and Sasekibe came to an abrupt halt finding their way blocked by a small blond girl. Alice smiled at them and asked sweetly "Where all of you off to?"

Her voice was sweet but Omeda could swear her eyes were as cold as Soifon's which meant he didn't want to be anywhere near here. The lieutenant of the first squad however drew his sword to the alarm of his companion. Saskibe Chojiro gave his order "All of you retreat immediately I'll hold her off for as long as I can."

"The lieutenant of the first squad…." Alice seemed to be pondering something to herself.

"Yes I'm Saskibe Chojiro, lieutenant under Captain-Commander Yamamoto." The lieutenant answered "_Ugate __**Gonryumaru**_ (Pierce **Solemn Spirit**)." His sword changed to a rapier. "I shall be your opponent."

"I don't think so." Alice said simply "In fact I think you are the only one I'll leave alive." Omeda immediately yelled "Way of Binding 21 Sekienton (Red Smoke Escape)" and a burst of smoke obscured the team from view. Alice shot into the smoke as Chojiro turned to assist his comrades. He moved toward the smoke but Alice appeared in his way. Chojiro stabbed at Alice but she blocked it with ease. Chojiro watched in horror while the smoke cleared. They were all dead; his entire squad of 42 shinigami was dead as well as Lieutenant Omeda. Alice spoke softly "I left the clever coward alive. So at least I didn't kill all of them." Chojiro looked confused. Alice said "The Lieutenant of the 2nd squad there used that kido knowing they were all going to die. He used it so he could inflict injuries on himself that look fatal but aren't. He then slowed his breathing to a crawl so he looks dead. I give him props for quick thinking so I decided to let him live."

Chojiro paused and stared at her unable to speak for a few seconds until he finally managed to get a single word out "Why?"

"Why let you live? You see the play is pointless without the audience, the book unnecessary without the reader. You were my witness. I hope you enjoyed the show." Alice explained "Now go tell your friends about it." She paused "Well your friends that I didn't just kill."

"But then why me and not one of the others?" Chojiro asked angrily.

"Two reasons; the first is you are just skilled enough to understand the beauty of my work." Alice said with a soft smile.

"And the other reason?" Chojiro asked quivering slightly.

"Do you know what kind of flowers are on my kimono?" Alice asked as she turned to walk away.

Chojiro realized what the flowers where just before she disappeared into shunpo. The flowers were chrysanthemums. The same flower was the symbol of the first squad and resided on his lieutenant badge.

* * *

The front lines were a mess. Now that they were farther from the senkaimon gates directing the hollows was more difficult. Making a unified line was nearly impossible even with Claude commanding them. Alice found the frontlines in bad shape, her forces where being pressed back. It seemed the flow of battle had turned against them. Retreating and regrouping was definitely the right course of action.

Alice walked up to Claude and Sean "We're retreating. Be prepared to order all Hollows to pull back."

Claude nodded "We will need something to cover our escape. "

"Leave that to Santri and me." Alice answered with a dark smile. "Begin the retreat in about two minutes." Alice shot away using shunpo in the direction of Santri.

* * *

Santri was dueling Shunsui in the middle of the battle field though everyone was keeping their distance afraid to get caught in their fight. Several hollows had died making the mistake of getting to close. He was using his rapier and his mask was released. His mask was similar in shape to Ichigo's vizard mask though his was a little wider at the bottom. Santri's mask was all black except for a design made of blue triangles going down the left side of his face. Alice appeared from nowhere and Shunsui pulled back to avoid Alice's slash.

"I need your assistance Santri, I'm sure you can guess what for." Alice said simply neither of them looking away from Shunsui.

"Oh we were playing such a fun game." Santri answered with a sigh.

"Sorry but now isn't the time." Alice answered.

"Fine" Santri said with a sigh. His weapon changed from a rapier to a staff. The staff was 6' tall and seemed to be made primarily of gnarled wood. At the top three short blades, barely 8" long, extend from it. They curved to make a kind of claw. The 'claw' held a yellow ball of energy. Also the blue triangles on his mask faded and yellow swirls appeared on the right side of his mask in their place.

Alice said "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (Release)" and her own black mask appeared. It was a masquerade mask meaning it only covered the area around her eyes. It had a spike pointing diagonally upwards from either side. It looked something like the upper half of a butterfly. It was adorned with blue, red, and white gems around the edges of the otherwise black mask.

Shunsui spoke "Whatever you are about to do to assist your retreat just save it. We need a break to regroup and adjust our strategy as much as you do. So why bother with the theatrics." At that moment the black mask hollows began to retreat. Shunsui said calmly "We'll continue our petty squabbles tomorrow at a more reasonable time of day." It was in fact around 3 in the morning now. And with that Shunsui disappeared to go order a retreat of his own units.

Santri turned to talk to Alice "What a strange man."

"He always was." Alice answered simply to Santri's surprise.

As Alice began to walk away and Santri said "That isn't the direction of the senkaimon gates."

"I'm off to do some intel gathering." Alice said "You should head back to the gates." She disappeared before Santri could comment.

* * *

Urahara had no idea what was happening on the battle field. He and Mayuri were waiting for the computer to finish scanning the files into its database. Meanwhile the two scientists were examining the data gained from Coal and Eve's Oaths of Chaos. "The effect it has on their natural energies is extremely odd."Mayuri mused looking at the screen "The effects it may have are endless. Rules that are usually concrete may be bent or broken. Figuring out the effects it actually has could take months without a live subject to experiment on."

"Well I can name an effect it most likely has." Urahara said "I suspect the Oath of Chaos has the effect of making it easier to achieve bankai. I assume they all know bankai since the member ranked 8th was capable while being the second weakest."

"It is strange that the entire order knows bankai." Mayuri agreed catching on "The odds of them all happening to be able to achieve bankai is unlikely. There is however another explanation."

Urahara looked confused asking "What's that?"

"The order members aren't as random as we thought." Mayuri said darkly.

"That is an alarming idea." Urahara answered "Some data on the other order members would be helpful at this point. Have you gathered anything from that mask?" Urahara referred to the mask of Sceleratus that Mayuri had been given.

"Nothing useful" Mayuri said clearly frustrated.

"The computer is done processing the files." Urahara noted "Perhaps we'll get some more conclusive data from it."

"Having any luck?" Captain Ukitake said walking into the lab.

"We're about to find out." Urahara replied "Why are you here instead of on the front lines?"

"The enemy retreated and we let them go." Ukitake replied "I decided to see how the information hunt was going."

Mayuri proceeded to sort through the files, narrowing down the data. Mayuri said "It seems that Busuchi and 5 others, including the man we suspect is Grim, all attempted to escape on the same day. It seems they successfully escaped the maggots nest but a squad apparently intercepted them and killed them all. The order must have somehow managed to change these records. But how would they manage such a thing without the 2nd squad noticing?"

"And then why not remove the files completely?" Ukitake asked.

"This is odd indeed." Mayuri said looking through Busuchi's record.

Then they came to Busuchi's picture. It was instantly apparent that Busuchi looked nothing like Ignotus. Busuchi was a heavy set man with a grin that would make babies cry. He had black hair that you could tell was greasy. He was not even remotely fit. His zanpakto also looked completely different from Ignotus'. "I seriously doubt that man is Ignotus." Urahara said immediately.

Ukitake nodded in agreement and suggested "How about we take a look at the other escapees."

Mayuri had pulled up the pictures and some other basic info of all those who apparently died on the day in question. Ignotus was immediately visible amongst the group. He was registered as a former lieutenant of the 11th squad and the reason for his imprisonment was loss of sanity. Most of the other faces weren't present among the current order with the exception of the man who would one day be called Grim, an unseated shinigami in the 9th squad. The others included Busuchi a third seat from the kido corps, a red haired man who was a fourth seat from the 2nd squad, a brown haired beastly looking man who was a 6th seat from the 4th squad, and last but far from least a blonde woman around Ignotus' age who was the former lieutenant of the 1st squad. "Quite the high profile line up." Urahara remarked "Two lieutenants, three high ranking seats, and the remaining one is the incredibly powerful opponent Coal defeated."

"Yes and one of the lieutenants was under the Captain-Commander." Mayuri noted.

"I think the Captain-Commander knows more than he has said." Ukitake said staring at the picture of the blonde woman "I'll have to confront him about this myself."

"He'll just tell you to do your duty and never give you the answer you seek." said a soft voice above them. The three captain level shinigami spun in alarm to find Alice sitting on a pipe that hung up near the ceiling. With a bit of spring in her movement she slid off the pipe and dropped gracefully to the floor. She wore a cheerful smile that somehow seemed out of place.

Urahara stared at her in interest for a moment before asking "What have you done to your skin? There is something unusual about it. It's almost like…"

"She has been aging backwards." Ukitake said.

Urahara turned in surprise "How did you reach that conclusion?"

"Look at the blonde woman on the computer screen." Ukitake answered.

Urahara looked back and it was immediately apparent that the two blondes were at the very least related.

"Indeed you are correct that I've aged backwards and you are correct that I am that woman." Alice answered "You were always quick to catch on Jushiro. Now do you have a guess how I got younger?"

Ukitake said nothing but Urahara picked up on it immediately "The Oath of Chaos disrupts the natural order of things. Manipulating that in order to age backwards wouldn't be out of the question."

"Excellent you get a gold star!" Alice exclaimed happily.

Urahara and Mayuri looked confused but Ukitake smiled a little. 'Well since you're in a good mood would you mind answering a question for me?" Ukitake asked politely.

"Sure, what's on your mind Jushiro?" Alice answered.

"Where is Busuchi?" Jushiro asked "He created the Oath of Chaos didn't he? Which would mean he is alive somewhere."

"Busuchi may have created the Oath of Order which would become the base of the Oath of Chaos but he didn't create the Oath of Chaos itself." Alice explained.

Ukitake nodded showing he understood.

Alice continued "Furthermore, even then that wouldn't mean he has to be alive. Ignotus actually created the Spark of Chaos. The Spark of Chaos allows you to give people the Oath of Chaos. The Spark of Chaos however will not be put out easily. Even if the one who currently possesses it dies it will move to the next strongest order member. Which means the spark of chaos will only be extinguished if you manage to defeat every last order member. On a side note, that doesn't include Eve and Coal since they aren't linked with the rest of us."

Ukitake asked "So the black masked hollows will only return to normal if you are all defeated?"

Urahara answered however "I would guess they still will return to normal if we defeat their creator since they are linked to the Spark of Chaos through a specific person."

"Correct again." Alice answered. "But I've gone a bit of subject. As for the other three original order members' whereabouts; they are all dead." Alice's voice turned dark and menacing "And in Busuchi's case, I killed him myself."

"Who is she?" Urahara said directing the question at Ukitake.

"She was a teacher when I started at the shinigami academy." Ukitake answered "She was also the lieutenant of the first squad as stated on the screen. Then for some reason she disappeared. I now know she went to the Maggot's Nest. She was said to be incredibly powerful. Everyone thought as soon as she achieved bankai she would almost immediately become a captain."

"Concise as always Ukitake" Alice then let out a sigh "I fear I must be getting back as soon as possible but I can't just let you walk away I'm afraid." Alice drew her sword. The three she was facing followed suit. "Fight your best, Ukitake." Alice said with an evil smile "Make this fight a story worth telling."

* * *

About 45 minute later, over half of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute was in ruins. Shunsui, Toshiro, and Kenpachi were coming to investigate what had happened. An exhausted Alice sensed their reiatsu and reluctantly retreated knowing she didn't have time to finish off her quarry. When the three captains arrived on the scene they found Jushiro had collapsed on the ground and Urahara seemed ready to. Mayuri was nowhere in sight. "What took you so long?" Urahara asked before falling to the ground and losing consciousness as well.


	23. The Second Collision

**Chapter 23: The Second Collision**

**Note from the Author: Sorry for the wait. The reason for the wait is that my last two weeks have been the week everything was due in my classes and finals week. So I haven't had a lot of time.**

Shunsui's office was very full. It was around 10 the following morning and Shunsui looked around the room at the assembly of high level fighters. Captains Hitsugaya, Kuchiki, Komamura, Zaraki, Unohana, and Coal were all the captains Shunsui had to work with since it seemed the old man had no intention of intervening. Also present were lieutenants Abarai and Eve, Ishida Uryu, Yasutora Sado, Orihime Inoue, and Kurosaki Ichigo.

Shunsui spoke to those assembled "It is questionable whether our situation has improved or not. On one hand three of the nine order members have fallen. On the other hand Yoruichi and Soifon are both still hospitalized, Urahara and Jushiro have been hospitalized and are still unconscious, and Captain Kurotsuchi won't reform from liquefying himself for a few days. There are 13 of us in this room to counter the 6 of them. Captain Unohana and Orihime Inoue will be support and most likely won't be doing any direct combat. Coal currently is incapable of using bankai till tomorrow due to using his bankai's final ability and therefore should not be confronting order members. Eve, I'm told that you defeated the 7th ranked order member in a 1-on-1 fight and that power-wise should be treated as a captain. Is that correct?"

"Yes it is." Eve answered feeling a little out of place talking to the captain.

"You won't have to worry about her when it comes to the battlefield." Coal put in "In truth her power exceeds my own."

"Well that's encouraging. That leaves 10 of us to deal with 6 of them. I'll need another captain besides myself to continue to command the ground troops. I suggest that Captain Zaraki should fill this post since his squad is so insistent on leading the charge." Kenpachi nodded in recognition. Shunsui continued "That leaves the fight being 8 on 6 and things looking pretty rough." The room was silent and solemn.

Shunsu "Now as for specific problems. Our primary targets are Claude and Ignotus. Killing Claude will make their frontline less unified since he clearly has the highest degree of control over the hollows. Defeating Ignotus will return the hollows to normal giving….." Shunsui trailed off as a messenger appeared in the room.

"Sir." The messenger stated loudly and clearly "We have just discovered the order has mobilized. They were using kido to hide themselves as well as a massive group of hollows. We have just barely detected them. They are advancing toward the 4th squad barracks. They will be there within the hour. All the forces we could immediately muster are moving to intercept the enemy. We are calling all available forces to defend the barracks but most of our forces will take a while to reach the barracks. That is all." The messenger then promptly vanished.

There was a silence for a few seconds as the room took in what they had heard. Shunsui then spoke "Well what are we all standing here for? Everyone go!" Less than a second later only Chad and Inoue were left in the room, still headed for the door.

* * *

Coal arrived on the battle field to find a bad situation. The force of hollows they had sprung on them was huge. The number of black masked hollows on the battlefield was probably greater than the number of shinigami that had been close enough and in good enough health to respond to the threat. There were more hollows still coming to bolster their ranks. On top of that this time they had brought scores of black masked gillian menos. Under Claude's control these menos where a dangerous weapon since he would order groups of them to launch concentrated attacks. Due to this, attempting to change the flow of the current battle was currently keeping several captains occupied.

Coal headed for Claude knowing it was probably an unwise decision. Without his bankai a fight with Claude would be most likely a losing one. However if Coal could distract Claude from his work it may allow Gotei 13 to gain control of the battle. Of course that might all be wishful thinking to cover up that he honestly just felt like fighting at the moment. Coal pondered why he always seemed to end up fighting when he couldn't use his bankai as he sped off towards Claude.

Coal rushed forward mostly unhindered by the hollows who paid little to no attention to him. As he neared Claude his path was blocked by Sean who promptly said "_Orior __**Luna Arcus**_(rise **Crescent Moon**)" and his sword took the shape of a crescent moon.

Coal answered with "_Vallo Obvium Totus __**Atrum Custos**_(Defend Against All **Dark Guardian**)" and their battle began. Coal blocked Sean's first strike with his shield and called "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (White Lightning)". Sean shot to Coal's left out of the way of the kido himself saying "Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (Release)". Sean's black mask formed the black half of a yin-yang. Coal echoed Sean's words, releasing his own mask. The two circled each other for a moment before Sean slashed at Coal again. Coal blocked with his shield but Sean pushed away to the right calling "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)". Coal pulled his shield around to defend just in time to block the kido. Coal answered with "Way of Chaos 34 Ignis Tempestas (Fire Storm)". Sean quickly pulled away from the swirling cone of chaos fire that had launched from Coal's shield. As the kido faded Coal burst through the flames stabbing at Sean. Sean pulled back in surprise barely avoiding the attack. Coal attempted to pursue his opponent but Sean was quicker and put some distance between them. The two paused watching each other carefully.

"Feeling daring today, Coal?" Sean said calmly "Fighting me when you can't use your bankai."

"I admit I'm probably pushing my luck." Coal agreed "But I can't back down now." There was a glint of excitement in Coal's eyes as he moved to assail Sean again.

* * *

Back at the senkaimon gates, Alice walked over to Ignotus. Ignotus asked "Have you recovered?"

"Yes, I'm ready now." Alice answered.

"Then let's go." Ignotus said looking in the direction of the far off battle "We're missing all the fun."

* * *

Meanwhile Ichigo was chasing a flash of blue. Nicole stopped for a moment on the roof of a tall building and Ichigo finally caught up. She turned and giggled saying "Good thing you have to fight me and not race me."

Ichigo stood on the other side of the roof watching her movements. "You don't seem like a violent person. Why are you fighting soul society?"

"Does it really matter? You're my enemy regardless of why I'm fighting soul society, right?" Nicole answered.

Ichigo answered "It matters to me but if you don't want to talk about it then I won't push the subject."

"I think the reason will become apparent once I start to fight seriously." Nicole answered "So are you boys ready?"

Ichigo was confused for a second until he noticed Byakuya had appeared on the roof as well. "Hey, Byakuya. Good to see you. I wasn't looking forward to fighting her alone." Ichigo said. Ichigo then took a more serious note "Watch out, her speed is blinding."

"You should get going Ichigo." Byakuya answered coldly.

"What?" Ichigo said surprised.

"Someone has to bring down Claude. Since you aren't a normal shinigami the black masked hollows should ignore you for the most part. You have the best chance of reaching him." Byakuya answered calmly.

Ichigo sighed and reluctantly said "I see. Then I guess I better get moving." Ichigo used shunpo to head towards Claude leaving Nicole and Byakuya alone.

Nicole was upon Byakuya in a flash. Byakuya blocked her vertical slash and retaliated with a quick stab. Nicole pulled back a disappeared into a blur of blue. Byakuya had to strain to keep track of her. She came again from the left and Byakuya pulled back in order to give himself enough time to block her attack. He shot backwards saying "_Chire __**Senbonzakura**_(Scatter **Thousand Cherry Blossoms**)" and his sword separated into flower petals. Nicole, suspecting contact with said petals was a bad idea, quickly retreated to another roof. Her suspicions were confirmed by the roof she had been standing on a moment before was cut in multiple places. The flower petals were tiny blades.

They stared at each other for a moment before Nicole said "_Renasci __**Saltatus Passer**_ (Be Reborn **Dancing Sparrow**)." Her sword once more took the form of two swords connected by a ring at the base of their hilts. Byakuya noted the blade was clearly made to be spun and was most likely a short range weapon. Also he noted her speed really was remarkable. Despite being ready for it he had nearly been cut twice. Her speed was not so great that she would easily defeat his _**Senbonzakura.**_ The fight over all still seemed to be admittedly in her favor.

Nicole shot to Byakuya's left but his cherry blossoms moved to block her way. She circled around him but she was blocked once more. Nicole decided to take run at attacking him. She shot at his right front but her sword was stopped by a small cloud of petals. She pulled back as the petals pursued. However she shot left easily losing the petals.

Nicole decided she would have to show her true power to defeat the captain. Her sword suddenly twisted. It turned so now both the leading edges of the blades faced forward. The ring connecting them no longer was in the same plane as the blades but instead the hole faced forward. She held it vertically with her left arm extended straight out in front of her as her other hand reached forward. To Byakuya's sudden surprise, a string of blue spirit energy formed between the tips of the two swords and she pulled the string back forming a pure blue arrow of spirit particles as she did.

Byakuya shot out of the way of the quincy arrow realizing his petals wouldn't return in time. She let lose another arrow a moment later and Byakuya prepared a kido to counter it though it turned out to be unnecessary. The arrow was intercepted by another arrow. Nicole turned in surprise to find Ishida Uryu standing on a nearby rooftop, his own bow drawn.

Nicole stared at Uryu, surprised to see a quincy in soul society. Her surprise was matched by Uryu confused to see what seemed to be a shinigami shooting quincy arrows. Byakuya showed no signs of surprise but didn't say anything either. Nicole broke the silence saying "This fight just got interesting."


	24. Quincy and Shinigami

**Chapter 24: Quincy and Shinigami**

"What are you?" Ishida asked shocked staring at Nicole.

"Isn't it more polite to ask 'who they are?' first?" Nicole answered.

"Sorry." Ishida said caught off guard "That was rude of me. Who are you?"

"I'm Nicole, ranked 4th in The Order of the Black Mask." Nicole answered smiling "And who are you?"

"Ishida Uryu, a quincy." Ishida answered "So what exactly are you?"

"As far as I know I'm the only successful fusion of a shinigami and a quincy." Nicole answered.

"How?" Ishida responded in disbelief "How could that possibly happen?"

"Even I'm not sure." Nicole responded "You see the first time I released my zanpakto I gained quincy powers or perhaps it is regained." Ishida remained silent and Nicole continued "I suspect that in life I was a quincy. After I died I entered the shinigami academy and became a shinigami."

"That doesn't mean you should have quincy abilities." Ishida responded.

"Not necessarily but is it really that farfetched?" Nicole continued "After all is a zanpakto not part of your soul? Does your zanpakto not often show your true nature? If my soul was that of a quincy is it so unreasonable to think my zanpakto would try to mimic that and in fact unlock my abilities hidden within? I believe I was a quincy in life and death couldn't change that though I'll never know for sure."

Ishida stared blankly at a loss for words. Byakuya however remained unphazed and interjected "That is interesting but it doesn't make a difference to me. You are my opponent regardless of what you are."

"Then let's not delay." Nicole responded "I hope you boys are ready."

Nicole let loose several arrows at Uryu. Uryu sidestepped them responding with a spray of arrows from his _**Ginrei Kojaku**_(**Arc Sparrow of the Silver Peak**). Nicole became naught but a blur of blue. Byakuya watched as she reappeared from the blur to fire several arrows at him. Byakuya blocked using _**Senbonzakura**_ (**Thousand Cherry Blossoms**) noting that there was a fair bit of power behind her arrows.

Nicole came to a halt for a moment looking at the two. Byakuya calmly ask "Is the technique she is using to move around a quincy technique, Ishida?"

"It is closely related to hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step), a quincy technique I use for quick movement, but it is modified somehow." Ishida answered.

Nicole chose to supply the complete answer "I'm using both hirenkyaku and shunpo simultaneously. That is how I'm achieving such a high speed. By mixing the two techniques I have produced a technique superior to both." Nicole then vanished into her blue blur. Ishida let loose a barrage of arrows to block her path. She jumped high over his blockade. She momentarily reappeared from the blur upside-down to shoot two arrows at Ishida. Ishida dodged out of the way temporarily ceasing his assault. In a flash she was nearly upon him but a small swarm of flower petals blocked her way. Nicole shot out around the swarm appearing from her blur to shoot several arrows at Byakuya. Byakuya dodged while simultaneously ordering his petals into pursuit. Nicole rushed forward to go after Byakuya but was forced to change direction to avoid another spray of arrows from Ishida. Byakuya called "Way of Destruction 4 Byakurai (White Lightning)". Nicole responded with "Way of Binding 39 Enkosen (Arc Shield)" blocking Byakuya's kido.

Nicole retreated to a roof top a little farther away. "So are we done sizing each other up?" Nicole asked sounding cheerful.

"Are you taking this seriously?" Ishida responded "It sounds like you are just having fun."

"You can't take things seriously and have fun?" Nicole responded with a smile "You don't get a thrill out of finding your opponents weakness or surprising your opponent with an attack they didn't know you had?"

"Perhaps a little but I don't think nearly as much as you do." Ishida answered.

"Then maybe you should loosen up a bit." Nicole said teasingly.

"Regardless he is correct you aren't fighting us seriously." Byakuya interjected "You aren't using your full speed from what I've heard. Also you haven't released your black mask."

"I didn't feel the need to fight seriously since you weren't." Nicole responded coolly "But if we are done feeling each other out I would be happy to fight for real."

"By all means" Byakuya responded.

"Way of Chaos 1 Solvo (Release)" Nicole answered. Her 'mask' turned out not to cover any of her face at all. Instead it was a simple black head band with a streak of blue running through it. "Let's get to it then." Nicole said sounding excited.

In a flash Nicole was above Ishida releasing an arrow straight down at him. Ishida dove out of the way and fired a barrage of arrows back at her. She was gone well before the arrows could reach her. She circled around Ishida dodging a stream of flower petals as she did so. Nicole shot several more arrows at Ishida. Ishida dodged them quickly but found Nicole almost right on top of him. Ishida drew one of his **Seele Schneider **(**Soul Cutter**) to block her sword. Nicole pivoted her weapon to stab at him with the other end. Ishida pulled back to avoid the attack and raised his **Seele Schneider **just in time to block another. Nicole then pushed away to avoid a stream of petals. Several of the petals nicked her arm before she became a flash of blue once more. Nicole appeared to launch several more arrows at Byakuya. Byakuya responded with "Way of Binding 81 Danku (Splitting Void)"which the arrows were unable to pierce. Nicole shot backwards out of the way of another burst of arrows from Ishida. However Byakuya's petals rushed at her like a wall from behind. Nicole flew up and over the petal wall saying "nice try" playfully.

In a flash she was behind Byakuya who barely managed to dodge her attack. She swung at him again but he used shunpo to try to escape. Nicole was waiting for him when he reappeared but Byakuya was ready. Byakuya's mission hadn't been to escape Nicole but to move her towards his petals which now rushed at her. Nicole swung at Byakuya who blocked with the hilt of his sword. Nicole was forced to dodge away to escape Byakuya's petals but had to quickly change course to avoid a spray of arrows from Ishida. Nicole responded with firing several arrows at Ishida. Ishida was ready however having already drawn his **Seele Schneider**. Ishida cut the arrows apart absorbing them at the same time. Nicole had no time to contemplate this problem since Byakuya's petals were almost upon her again. Nicole became a blur once more reappearing to fire more arrows at Byakuya who answered with "Way of Binding 81 Danku" once again. Nicole was prepared this time with a kido already focused at the tip of her fingers on the hand holding her bow. "Way of Chaos 22 Chaos Hasta (Chaos Spear)" she cried and the fast moving chaos fireball rammed into Byakuya's defensive wall failing to break through. Nicole however had been taking that moment to form an especially powerful arrow which she now let fly at the center of where her kido had hit. The arrow pierced through the wall and Byakuya realized the danger to late. Byakuya managed to move in time to avoid critical injury but was shot through his chest near his left shoulder. Nicole put distance between them landing a few roof tops away.

"Were you caught off guard by that Captain Kuchiki?" Nicole teased.

"Using chaos kido to weaken my Danku kido and then piercing it with a quincy arrow, I'll admit it was a good move." Byakuya said calmly.

"You two are pretty good yourselves." Nicole admitted examining the cuts on her arm "Even if you can't keep up with me you both seem to be able to keep track of me reasonably well."

"You aim for sheer speed rather than stealth." Byakuya noted "Shunpo makes you harder to see but your technique makes you easier to keep track of. You bet on your speed to be high enough to out maneuver your opponent rather than surprise them."

"It doesn't matter though you two won't win." Nicole answered confidently.

"Really by what estimation do you make that claim?" Byakuya said "You are a quincy but from what I've seen no better a quincy than Uryu. Your arrows are stronger but you clearly can't fire anywhere near the volume of arrows he can. You are a shinigami but your shinigami powers are no superior to mine. My kido is clearly at least nearly as strong as yours if not equal to it and then I still have my _**Senbonzakura**_. On top of that our power is split between the two of us making us far more versatile and in many ways harder to kill than you. In all honesty your only real advantage is your speed and even you have to slow down to launch attacks. What makes you think that you can beat the two of us?"

"My bankai" Nicole answered with a smirk.

"Do you forget that as a Captain of Gotei 13 I have a bankai as well?" Byakuya responded.

"No but I doubt your bankai is on par with mine." Nicole answered deviously.

Byakuya's sword had reformed and he turned it upside-down with a cold foreboding look in his eyes. "Bankai" was Byakuya's only response to her taunt as he dropped his sword. Two long lines of blades formed behind him. Nicole stared on having a bad feeling she already knew what was about to happen. Byakuya spoke calmly and clearly almost as if bored "_**Senbonzakura **__Kageyoshi _(Vibrant Display of **a Thousand Cherry Blossoms**)" Then with a voice that seemed calm, sharp, and incredibly menacing all at the same time he spoke the word that signaled the beginning of the real fight "_Chire _(Scatter)".

The blades exploded and a rush of cherry blossoms surged towards Nicole. Nicole stood in shock and awe for a moment at their sheer numbers before vanishing into a stream of blue. The building she had been standing a moment before was simply washed away by the petals as if it were a sand castle on the beach. A smaller stream of petals shot out of the main group to pursue her but they had no chance of catching her. Nicole reappeared from the flash of blue, firing several arrows at Byakuya. Another cloud of petals rose up beside him blocking the arrows effortlessly. A stream of petals shot out of this cloud to pursue her as well. Nicole shot away again pulling around so the two streams of petals chasing her merged into one. She however was surprised to find another large cloud already waiting to block her new path. Nicole reversed, dodging around the stream of petals that had be pursuing her a moment before. As she shot past it smaller streams shot out of the side of the stream attempting to catch her. These attempts were in vain however, as Nicole accelerated to her full speed. She flew over Byakuya's head appearing from her flash of blue to fire arrows down at Byakuya. Byakuya didn't even flinch as his petals rose up to protect him. Nicole vanished into her blue flash once more looking to put some distance between her and the rampaging swarms of cherry blossoms. She landed on the tallest building in the area which was several buildings away from the one Byakuya and Ishida were standing on. Byakuya's petals did not pursue and from her new vantage point Nicole could see their incredible numbers.

"I expected something powerful from you but I can't say I was prepared for that." Nicole said smiling again "However as alarming as your bankai is you are still going to lose."

"You do realize during that entire time Ishida simply stood and watched?" Byakuya said calmly "You were no match for my bankai alone, do you think your bankai will defeat not only my bankai but his quincy powers as well? You evaded my bankai for the moment but it is only a matter of time till I catch you and then this battle will be over."

"We'll see." Nicole answered unshaken "My bankai is exceedingly powerful. You must have felt Grim's reiatsu when he fought Coal. You must realize that I outrank him and therefore must be able to overcome that power. You see my zanpakto has the power of a quincy so it is only natural that my bankai, the ultimate form of my zanpakto, would be akin to the ultimate power of the quincy. Do you know what that is?"

Byakuya did not answer however Uryu spoke up "You are referring to the Final Form of the Quincy. It causes your quincy powers to explode out of you making you incredibly powerful for the short time it last but afterward you lose your quincy powers."

"Normally that is true but I won't lose my shinigami powers and so my quincy powers are reborn when my zanpakto is released." Nicole explained "My bankai like the Final Form of the Quincy is incredibly powerful especially here in soul society where everything is made of spirit particles. Here in soul society I'm in fact more powerful than Santri who is ranked 3rd. It comes with a price however: I can only maintain my bankai for about an hour and I will be completely drained afterward which is why I don't like use it if I can avoid it. However the power I gain is worth the trade off. I don't need an hour, 30 minutes will be enough to defeat the two of you." Nicole raised her sword which was in its non-bow form above her head and said "Bankai." She let go of her blade and it levitated a few inches above her hand before it began to spin. Nicole was obscured from view by a cyclone of spirit particles that had come from her. The cyclone began to devour the building she was standing on as well becoming larger. The cyclone then collapsed in on Nicole. Nicole shone blue for a moment before the spirit particles faded revealing her bankai.

The building Nicole had been standing on was a few floors shorter but she hadn't moved. She simply floated in mid-air. Her shoes were white with silver soles. Her pants were white with a black stripe down either side and with three thin blue stripes running down each of the black stripes. Her stomach had an ornate blue cross outlined in black on a white background. Above that she wore silver armor though it showed nearly as much skin as Lieutenant Matsumoto's uniform. This armor went to her shoulders forming guards. From the back of her armor came two flares of spirit particles similar to the one Ishida had in his own final form. The two flares gave her the appearance of having large glowing blue wings. Her sleeves were white and short. She also wore white gloves. She wore a necklace bearing a small silver cross and earrings that matched it. She seemed to glow with a faint blue glow. Ishida was momentarily taken aback by her beauty before remembering that this form was the one she intended to kill him with. In her left hand she held her weapon. From a central ring came six swords instead of two. Each had a short handle and a blade that was thicker and looked like it had been swung so fast that the backside of the blade had been smeared slightly. All the blades pointed the same way in plane with the central ring like the first form of her shikai form suggesting it was made to spin. Her weapon was a fair 5'8" meaning it was taller than Nicole who stood only 5'5".

Nicole raised her left hand, letting go of her weapon. The weapon float next to her and began to spin gathering spirit particles to it. Her weapon became a spinning blue disk with an edge that you could tell you didn't want to touch. Nicole spoke softly and sweetly "Steel your minds and ready yourselves for now you face the divine judgment of my_ Angelica Animae Tomus_ (Angelic Soul Cutter)!"


End file.
